The UK announced extra funding of £21.5 million ($34.7 million) to boost graphene research and development in the UK. This new investment fund aims to "take the technology from the lab to the factory floor".
The Imperial College in London will receive the largest sum (£4.5 million) to investigate aerospace applications of graphene. Other projects are based at Durham University, the University of Manchester, the University of Bath together with the University of Exeter (£1.1 million) and Royal Holloway. All of those universities will collaborate with industrial partners (including Nokia, BAE Systems, Procter & Gamble, Qinetiq, Rolls-Royce, Dyson, Sharp and Philips Research). The commercial companies will take part in the funding and will invest £12 million more.
The new £21.5 million in funding is in addition to the £50 million graphene drive announced back in February 2012, which included £38 million for the national graphene institute at the University of Manchester. Construction of the new institute is expected to begin in Q1 2013.