LONDON – The Mersey Basin project has received a significant boost with £50,000 in seed funding aimed at facilitating the development of a full bid, potentially unlocking up to £50 million in investment for the North West region. The funding, provided by UKRI‘s Strength in Places Fund as part of the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy, is expected to pave the way for a final bid submission later in 2019. Led by STFC Laboratories, the project aims to advance AI-Enabled Materials Chemistry across the Mersey Basin, leveraging AI tools for digital design and processing of real materials to benefit industries and supply chains. Key partners involved in the initiative include the Hartree Centre at Daresbury, the University of Liverpool, IBM Research, the Henry Royce Institute, the University of Manchester, and the Alan Turing Institute, according to a press release published on EuropaWire.

The Mersey Basin project targets productivity enhancement and job growth in the North West, spanning the M56/M62 corridor from the Liverpool City Region through to Manchester. Despite being home to world-class facilities for new materials, digital manufacturing, high-performance computing, and artificial intelligence, the region faces productivity challenges and underdeveloped supply chains. Alison Kennedy, Director of the Hartree Centre at UKRI Daresbury Laboratory, emphasized the project’s focus on linking these assets to drive productivity and job creation. The initiative aims to leverage artificial intelligence to enhance the design and production processes of complex materials across five key sub-sectors: sustainable solutions in Fast Moving Consumer Goods and packaging, smart coatings and sensors, energy, medicines and biofilms, and advanced manufacturing.

The Mersey Basin project underscores the broader efforts supported by the Strength in Places Fund, which includes initiatives like CS Connected, Clyde Waterfront Innovation Campus, and the Global Centre of Excellence in Open Banking. These projects aim to drive innovation, economic growth, and regional development across various sectors, reinforcing the UK’s commitment to fostering innovation and competitiveness on a global scale.