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How NSIRC Supports Our Industrial Members

Fri, 05 February, 2021

The increasing industrial demand for highly qualified researchers has created a space where research facilities like the National Structural Integrity Research Centre (NSIRC) are able to deliver important research while also preparing PhD students for careers in industry.

Launched in 2012, NSIRC has gone on to have an invaluable impact on industry, including innovation and safety improvements in the fields of materials, joining technologies and structural integrity. This valuable work is built upon a robust collaboration between industry and academia; supporting the UK economy and providing results for real-world industrial needs.

This step-change in innovation has resulted in improved technologies with a global impact, as NSIRC provides industrial sponsors with access to cutting-edge scientific research, while also meeting the need for marketable products for business.

TWI Industrial Member companies can take advantage of the support offered by NSIRC through sponsorship of your staff or research, which has already seen over £150 million invested into facilities, equipment and studentships, delivering 840 years’ worth of industrial PhD and MSc research.

In addition, through student sponsorship, NSIRC works to meet the demand for highly-qualified engineers with the necessary skills to achieve business growth by giving students valuable knowledge and experience. This includes Industrial Members being able to sponsor their own staff for a PhD via NSIRC; upskilling them with genuine, industrially relevant knowledge and experience at the same time.

Dr Jan Przydatek, the Director of Technology at Lloyd’s Register Foundation, who are one of the founding members of NSIRC, explained, “We have been supporting NSIRC to create impact through education and research. By impact, we mean changes in the real world that enhance safety and advance public education. NSIRC’s postgraduate studies not only create individuals who are technically excellent, but they are also shaped to think with an industry mindset, meaning that they are ready to fully integrate and add value into organisations from day one.”

He continued, “The research conducted at NSIRC is targeted at real world challenges with routes to application. After six years, we are starting to see NSIRC research influencing the standards of today and laying the foundations for the standards of tomorrow. The development of technology and techniques to protect, inspect and maintain the structural integrity of assets and their component parts, and fundamental knowledge of new manufacturing techniques that will ensure their safe application,” adding, “what is clear to me is that there is much more to come.”

You can find out more about NSIRC in the Impact Review, below, or email enquiries@nsirc.co.uk to see how NSIRC can help you.

nsirc-impact-review-2020-copyright-©-2020-twi-ltd - pdf - 11mb

For more information please email:


contactus@twi.co.uk