UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC)

UKERC is funded by Research Councils UK Energy Programme.

• For an overview of UKERC download the UKERC brochure
• For a more detailed picture, and for information on our activities in Europe and internationally, download the UKERC General Presentation
• For an overview of UKERC achievements to date see our Milestones webpage
• Meet the UKERC team

UKERC reports to a Supervisory Board and is advised by an independent Advisory Board.  A Research Committee manages UKERC's Research Fund and is a sub-Committee of the Advisory Board. Find out more about UKERC Governance.

Phase I

The Centre was established following a recommendation made by the Chief Scientific Advisor’s Energy Research Review Group’s 2002 report. Broadly, the report recommended setting up a new Energy Research Centre to:

• Bring together Government, industry and academia
• Be a networking centre to co-ordinate UK research, facilitate industry collaboration and promote UK participation in international projects
• Be a centre of excellence in its own right
• Help maximise returns from research investment and leverage private sector funds

Funding for the Centre was allocated in the 2002 Spending Review.

In 2003/2004, under the Towards a Sustainable Economy (TSEC) programme, the UK Research Councils invited bids to run the Centre. Submissions were received from three consortia of academic institutions lead by Imperial College London, the Kelvin Consortium (comprising several institutions including Manchester University, the Science and Technology Research Council (at the time known as CCLRC), the New and Renewable Energy Centre and the University of Oxford.

On the advice of its Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), the Research Councils decided to bring the strengths of each of the bids together and asked Professor Jim Skea to work with members of the three consortia, and other participants, to forge a research programme to fulfil the vision for the Centre.

The Research Councils accepted the new proposal and activities started in October 2004.  

Professor Jim Skea assumed the role of Research Director in July 2004; John Loughhead was appointed as Executive Director in November 2004.
 
Phase II

In early 2009, UKERC was invited by the Research Council's Energy Programme to submit a proposal for a further five years work. The proposal was accepted and UKERC Phase II began on 30 April 2009.

The UKERC Research Programme changed significantly in terms of partners and objectives and also a new Research Fund has been established.

Popular UKERC activities such as the Research Atlas, the Meeting Place and the National Energy Research Network all continue in UKERC Phase II.

UKERC's research objectives are being addressed within five  broad themes, within which a number of co-ordinated, interdisciplinary projects are taking place:

• Technology and Policy Assessment
• Energy and Environment
• Energy Supply
• Energy Demand
• Energy Systems

UKERC’s Meeting Place, serves the whole of the UK research community and its popular events, designed to tackle interdisciplinary topics and facilitate knowledge exchange and collaboration, are regularly oversubscribed.

The National Energy Research Network, NERN is open to all energy researchers and other sectors, including business. It provides regular updates on news, jobs, events, opportunities and developments across the energy field in the form of a popular weekly newsletter.

UKERC’s Research Atlas is the definitive information resource for current and past UK energy research and development activity.  T

UKERC is also the research delivery partner in the Technology Strategy Board’s Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) for Energy Generation and Supply, with responsibility for analysis of future and emerging opportunities. T

The Energy Data Centre,  is an outward-facing service for the UK energy research community, directing interested parties to publicly available energy and related data

UKERC’s interdisciplinary research studentships have funded over 30 students at UK universities for interdisciplinary energy research across scientific, engineering and socio-economic boundaries.

Our prestigious and heavily oversubscribed annual International Summer School, has become a highlight of the energy calendar.

UKERC is committed to fostering and nurturing new talent, and hosts Sparks, a networking group set up for, and run by, early-career energy researchers.