It is part of a £30 million government and industry partnership announced this week (July 22) by Business Secretary Vince Cable.

The investment will fund two projects. The one involving Swansea University will develop advanced materials such as high performance alloys for use in the aerospace industry to further improve the efficiency, safety and noise levels of gas turbines.

The grant will also support Swansea’s cohort of 35 PhD and Engineering Doctorate students. A similar number will be recruited between 2014 and 2019.

This will help fill a skills shortage in the UK aerospace industry flagged up by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.

Swansea’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Richard B. Davies, said: “The investment by Rolls Royce and EPSRC into Swansea University, alongside its primary strategic partners Cambridge and Birmingham Universities, will greatly enhance the UK’s competitiveness in the aerospace and wider advanced manufacturing sectors.

“These are critical sectors for Wales’s economy, with clusters in North East and South Wales. Swansea’s world-leading research into advanced materials, together with its training of high level engineers, will support knowledge transfer and help to drive manufacturing productivity and economic growth within Wales and beyond.”

Speaking at the Mission-Oriented Finance for Innovation event at the House of Commons, Dr Cable said: “These new £30 million partnerships are a significant investment in the development of advanced materials to support aerospace and high-value manufacturing across the UK.

“The collaborations between universities and businesses, including the likes of Rolls-Royce, are an excellent example of how our industrial strategy is giving businesses the confidence to invest and secure a stronger, more balanced economy.”

The Strategic Partnership in Structural Metallic Systems for Advanced Gas Turbine Applicationsis the latest stage in a 10-year partnership between Rolls-Royce and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

The Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre in Materials (UTC) at Swansea acts as an exemplar of knowledge transfer to industry, a theme at the heart of the new Science and Innovation Bay Campus development.

Professor Tony Dunhill, of Rolls-Royce, said: “Rolls-Royce is delighted to be a co-investor in both of these Strategic Partnerships. The increasing demands placed on our products, together with the extreme environments in which they operate, mean that investing in skills and knowledge in advanced materials and non-destructive testing is essential for our business.”