Researchers at Swansea University have been highly successful in securing funding for a diverse range of European Funding programmes, across all sectors, from Engineering to Medicine and Health Sciences; to Science and Art and Humanities:

European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), £84 million, including the projects: Engineering Manufacturing Centre, Swansea Bay Innovation Hub, Centre for Nano Health, Institute of Life Sciences 1 & 2, ASTUTE, SOLCER, Low Carbon Research Institute, WISE2, High Powered Computing Wales, and A4B.

European Social Fund (ESF), £32 million, Software Alliance Wales, Leadership Wales, Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarships, Access to Masters, Work Based Learning, Foundation Degree, Technocamps, Go Wales

Interreg - £3 million funding for inter-regional EU co-operation to promote sustainable and integrated economic development of Wales and other EU regions – Celtic Alliance for Nanohealth, WIN-IPT, ECOJEL, SUSFISH, IMPACT, ENALGAE.

7th Framework Programme (FP7) Swansea University has led six projects and been a collaborator in a further 35 projects to the value of £12.7m

Horizon 2020 – three projects have been awarded to date in this new research and innovation programme worth €537,908 - Industrial Leadership in Engineering action and 2 Marie Sklodowska Curie individual fellowships in Science and Public Policy.

Lifelong Learning Programme – Swansea has participated in seven projects including Erasmus student and staff mobility across the 2007-2013 programme, two highly prestigious Erasmus Mundus international master’s courses and Tempus funding.

Other European initiatives which have been supported by the EU include the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), assisting local small businesses to make the most of the European marketplace.

Science and Innovation Bay Campus

In September this year, Swansea University’s new £450 million Science and Innovation Bay Campus will open its doors. Made possible through support secured from the European Investment Bank, and the European Regional Development Fund, this multi-partner public/private project will be the catalyst for what is “likely to be the largest Knowledge Economy project in the UK and one of the top five in Europe” (European Investment Bank, September 2012).

The Science and Innovation Campus will be home to the new Engineering quarter. This will house the Swansea Bay Innovation Hub and the Engineering Manufacturing Centre, which have been part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government.

The European Investment Bank who have provided a £60m credit facility for the University commented that the nature and extent of the business engagement which the University has in place and its planning, was the most impressive they had seen in any project of its type anywhere in Western Europe. This was also echoed by the Director General for Regeneration in Europe at a showcase in the EU Parliament when Dimitri Corparkis described the project as “one to be replicated throughout Europe”.

First Minister for Wales, Carwyn Jones AM, has commented: “The construction phase of this project is a leading light in terms of the jobs, skills and supply chain opportunities. It also highlights the benefits that additional financial support from the EU and the Welsh Government can have on the lives of local people and future students.”

Finance Minister (Wales), Jane Hutt AM (pictured above at the Bay Campus with Professor Richard B Davies, Swansea University’s Vice Chancellor) has also commented: “Investing in key infrastructure projects such as this one is vital to the Welsh economy. I am pleased to see how EU funds have helped establish a leading research and innovation facility to drive forward our knowledge economy skills.”

Professor Richard B Davies, Swansea University’s Vice Chancellor,said: “The University welcomes the significant funds received from the EU through the Welsh Government and is proud of the proven success of these projects in creating high-value and high-skill jobs and, as importantly, attracting further investment into the south west region of Wales to help drive forward the knowledge economy.

“We are on schedule for the September 2015 opening of the new £450M Science and Innovation Campus, secured through investment of £60m from the European Investment Bank, the first EIB investment in Wales, for what is one of the largest knowledge economy projects in Europe.

The University has made massive progress over the last ten years and I am full of admiration for what colleagues have achieved.”