Faraday Research Partnership

Faraday Research Partnership
Name	Faraday Research Partnership
Formation	2010s
Type	Research consortium
Headquarters	United Kingdom
Fields	Energy storage; electrochemistry; materials science

Faraday Research Partnership is a United Kingdom–based consortium focused on advanced battery science, electrochemistry innovation, and collaborative technology translation. The Partnership connects industrial entities, academic institutions, and public agencies to accelerate development of lithium-ion battery technologies, solid-state battery concepts, and next-generation energy storage systems. It has engaged with national initiatives, private companies, and research councils to align laboratory-scale discovery with industrial deployment.

Overview

The Partnership operates at the intersection of University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, University of Manchester, and other major UK research centres, while liaising with multinational corporations such as Jaguar Land Rover, Rolls-Royce, National Grid, BP, and Shell. It draws expertise from leading scholars associated with institutions like University College London, University of Southampton, University of Sheffield, University of Warwick, University of Birmingham, University of Glasgow, University of Bristol, University of Leeds, University of Liverpool, and University of Edinburgh. The consortium interfaces with national funding and policy bodies including Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Innovate UK, United Kingdom Research and Innovation, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and regional development agencies. Corporate partners and suppliers include Johnson Matthey, BASF, Umicore, 3M, and Siemens. Technology transfer pathways involve incubators and accelerators such as Cambridge Enterprise, Oxford University Innovation, SETsquared Partnership, Tech Nation, and Catapult Centres.

History

The Partnership was founded amid growing interest following multinational investments by Tesla, Panasonic, LG Chem, Samsung SDI, CATL, and policy responses like the Paris Agreement and national strategies for decarbonisation. Early collaborations referenced work at laboratories linked to Faraday Institution projects, drew on expertise from groups associated with Sir Humphry Davy, Michael Faraday-inspired heritage institutions including the Royal Institution, and coordinated with infrastructure initiatives such as High Speed 2 and Hinkley Point C. It expanded through memoranda of understanding with industrial research divisions of GKN, Aston Martin, BAE Systems, Airbus, and transportation agencies including Network Rail and Transport for London. Milestones included joint programmes with European Commission research frameworks, strategic alignments with Horizon 2020, and contributions to national roadmaps promulgated by National Infrastructure Commission and Committee on Climate Change.

Research Focus and Programs

Research programmes address cathode, anode, electrolyte, and cell manufacturing science, building on foundational work from laboratories associated with John Goodenough, Stan Whittingham, Akira Yoshino-inspired literature and applications seen in projects at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Project themes include solid electrolyte interfaces, fast-charging protocols, thermal management, recycling and circular management involving partners like Veolia and Suez. Programs collaborate with instrumentation groups from Oxford Instruments, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bruker, JEOL, and metrology units connected to National Physical Laboratory. Specialized initiatives address battery modelling using software from ANSYS, COMSOL, and high-performance computing resources at Argonne Leadership Computing Facility-style centres. Training and doctoral schemes are coordinated with doctoral training centres at EPSRC-funded universities, professional bodies such as Institute of Physics, Royal Society of Chemistry, and industrial apprenticeship programmes linked to City & Guilds.

Industry and Academic Partnerships

Formal alliances include consortia with vehicle manufacturers like Nissan, Volvo, Toyota, and Ford Motor Company, energy utilities such as ScottishPower, EDF Energy, National Grid ESO, and technology firms like Apple, Microsoft, Huawei, Siemens Energy. Academic collaborations span research groups at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, ETH Zurich, Max Planck Society, CEA Grenoble, Tsinghua University, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Riken, CSIRO, and CSIRO's partner networks. Knowledge exchange activities include joint symposia with Royal Society, workshops at Science Museum, and policy briefings to think tanks such as Chatham House and Policy Exchange.

Funding and Governance

Funding sources combine public grants from bodies including EPSRC, Innovate UK, and regional growth funds, private sector investment from venture capital firms such as BGF, Octopus Ventures, Balderton Capital, and corporate R&D budgets from BASF, Johnson Matthey, Unilever, and 3M. Governance involves board representation from academics affiliated with University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, and industry directors from Shell, BP, Jaguar Land Rover, as well as non-executive advisors drawn from Royal Academy of Engineering, Institute of Mechanical Engineers, and Energy Institute. Ethical, safety, and regulatory alignment work with standards organisations like BSI Group, International Electrotechnical Commission, European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization, and compliance partners engaged with Office for Product Safety and Standards.

Impact and Achievements

The Partnership has contributed to commercialization routes for battery materials used in demonstrations with Transport for London, energy storage pilots with National Grid ESO and ScottishPower Renewables, and cell manufacturing scale-up projects influenced by collaborations with Britishvolt-style ventures and manufacturing consultancies such as McKinsey & Company and Roland Berger. Academic outputs have been published in journals linked to Nature, Science, Journal of Power Sources, Advanced Energy Materials, and Electrochimica Acta, while personnel have been recognised by awards from Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering, European Battery Alliance initiatives, and technology prizes administered by Department for Business and Trade. Training pipelines have placed postgraduates into firms like Tesla, Jaguar Land Rover, Rolls-Royce, Siemens, and research institutes such as National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Barcelona.

Category:Research organisations in the United Kingdom