Message from SRPe Chair

As Chair of the Scottish Research Partnership in Engineering (SRPe) - the university Research Pool in engineering - and on behalf of my fellow SRPe Board Directors, I am delighted to welcome you to our new website.

Scotland has an outstanding history of making globally significant contributions to science, engineering, medicine and technology; both in terms of legendary figures such as Kelvin, Watt, Logie-Baird, Telford and Maxwell, and in terms of being at the forefront of the industrial revolution, particularly in textiles, design, shipbuilding and marine engineering. 

Against this backdrop, and as we enter the next industrial revolution of the digital age, research and development across engineering sciences, technology development and innovation continues to be at the heart of Scotland’s economic future prosperity and our nation’s ability to tackle complex industrial and societally-relevant challenges that require inter-disciplinary research solutions. 

SRPe continues to go from strength to strength and we take significant pride in the continued growth and quality of Scottish university engineering research and its standing on the international stage. Coupled with our strong collaborative R&D strategy, and as we continue on our mission to future-proof Scotland's position as a world-class centre of research excellence,  this has given us the opportunity to create a globally competitive driving force in engineering and a vibrant hub for translational engineering research, impact and industrial innovation.

Boasting a talented engineering research community of more than 1,100 academics, 5,500 postgraduate students and 13,500 undergraduates, SRPe has a successful track record of integrating high value skills development, leading-edge research, and collaboration with industrial partners and government.  This strategic triple-helix approach to collaboration embraced by the academic, public and private sectors is critical to our nation’s current and future success.

As Chair of SRPe, and on behalf of my colleagues across the partnership, we are indebted to our key stakeholders and strategic collaborators for their ongoing commitment and support in achieving our common objectives.

Professor Sir Jim McDonald

SRPe Chair

Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde