LONDON, Dec. 9 -- Universities throughout the UK will receive an extra £320 million for science research. According to UK Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers, the grants to 45 projects at 27 universities represent the biggest investment in university science infrastructure in 40 years.
The funding is being provided by the Joint Infrastructure Fund -- an initiative begun last year by the DTI, the Wellcome Trust and the Higher Education Funding Council for England -- and includes money made available following the July 1998 comprehensive spending review by the UK government.
Among those to receive funding are three University of Manchester projects, including an upgrade to the Lovell telescope. Six projects at the University of Cambridge will be funded; these include advanced research in math, biology, and neuroscience. Oxford is to receive funding for four projects, including work in computing and chemistry. Extra funding will support University of Newcastle scientists studying vision, as well as a project at the University of Leeds considering traffic pollution and traffic noise.