Yorkshire academy to provide physics graduates with better industrial skills

A NEW academy designed to encourage more physics graduates into technical careers has received a £2m boost.

The White Rose Industrial Physics Academy (WRIPA), is a new collaboration between the Universities of York and Sheffield and businesses, which aims to ensure it is producing physics graduates with the skills they need in the world of work.

Professor Thomas Krauss, from the University of York’s Department of Physics, will lead the academy.

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Employers tell us they need highly qualified students with technical and problem-solving skills to fuel economic growth, while our students have expressed a keen interest in the academy as they are taking employability issues more seriously nowadays,” Prof Krauss said.

The £2m grant has been awarded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). The announcement means that, together with investment from the two universities and industry, total investment in the project is £5m.

As well as encouraging more graduates into technical careers, the academy aims to help build stronger relationships between industry and university physics departments.

Physics-based businesses directly contribute £77bn to the UK economy, but often say they find it difficult to recruit sufficient numbers of suitably qualified graduates and postgraduates. At the same time, students are often not aware of the range of physics employment opportunities open to them, or lack the essential skills for entering these technical careers.

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Professor John Robinson, York’s pro-vice-chancellor for teaching, learning and information, said: “Through the new academy, our aim is to excite graduates about the opportunities offered by scientifically challenging careers in industry and to provide them with the skills they need for employment success.”