UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has announced a £4 million investment to establish a national Centre of Excellence for Resilient Infrastructure Analysis.
Ensuring the UK is prepared for the sudden impacts of extreme floods, water and food shortages, energy failures and other challenges is a crucial priority.The national Centre of Excellence for Resilient
Infrastructure Analysis will help to tackle these challenges by bringing together the many strands of research needed to create more resilient cities and societies.Tackling significant challengesStarting in April 2023, the centre will support data analysis to foster research into resilience in the natural and built environment.It will provide a reliable, safe, and accessible online space to facilitate collaboration and sharing of knowledge and data
.The virtual centre is an extension of the UKRI-funded Data and Analytics Facility for National Infrastructure (DAFNI) platform, which aims to improve the efficiency, reliability, and sustainability of infrastructure through data and analytics.
The investment comes via the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) scientific computing department as part of UKRI’s ‘Building a secure and resilient world’ strategic theme.
Focusing research efforts
Tom Griffin, Director of STFC Scientific Computing, said:We need to streamline the way in which research data is collected, stored, and made available to the people who need to use it to plan for, and respond to, dramatic events that affect people and their environments
.The DAFNI platform is able to do just that and, through the new centre of excellence, will enable government advisors, town planners and researchers to share and analyse data whenever it’s needed.Using the DAFNI platform, researchers in the centre of excellence will be able to:collaborate onlinescale researchintegrate computational models and model workflowsdeposit and share models and data with the infrastructure research community in the UK and further
Opportunity to move forward
Dr Brian Matthews, STFC DAFNI Group Leader, said:The new Centre of Excellence for Resilient Infrastructure Analysis is an opportunity to move forward research on the resilience of our vital infrastructure.We have seen threats of energy price rises, issues on ensuring food supplies, and global pandemics, while in the long-term we face the threat of climate change.Computer models help us understand how these threats might impact our society and environment, and how we might be better prepared.The centre of excellence will form a focus for the world-leading research that we have in the UK.
Future opportunities
An associated funding opportunity for research projects to support the centre of excellence will open to applications in April 2023.Researchers and academics active in infrastructure research as well as those working in multidisciplinary areas from across the UK are invited to apply for a total fund of £1.4 million.The funding is split into three key areas:supporting key modelsdeveloping a resilience frameworkexploring resilience scenariosFull information on the Centre of Excellence for Resilient Infrastructure Analysis and associated funding opportunities will be hosted on the DAFNI website and UKRI funding finder.
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