‘Harwell is a powerhouse of research and development in space, clean energy, quantum computing and life sciences.’ The Financial Times, Sept 2021
Catalysing ground-breaking ideas and technology
Harwell is the UK’s leading science and innovation campus. We are a 21st century science and innovation community, home to over 6,000 engineers, scientists and innovators from 225 organisations, from start-ups to biotech unicorns.
Innovation clusters have been proving their worth worldwide for decades. They concentrate talent, technology, facilities and investment for a whole range of organisations – but often with a focus on a single specialism. At Harwell, we go further. We take a unique multi-disciplinary approach that crosses boundaries to meet global challenges.
The evidence is clear: innovative companies are most successful when they’re part of a thriving community that features leading academic institutions plus direct access to long-term government support, a critical mass of scientific talent and agile venture capital. Harwell leads the world in making this model work. It’s why we’ve more space organisations within walking distance of one another than anywhere else – to give just one example.
Our vibrant environment is concentrated around Space, Energy and Health – with the exciting addition of quantum through the National Quantum Computing Centre from 2022. World-leading organisations like The European Space Agency, the Rosalind Franklin Institute and the Faraday Institution rub shoulders with ambitious start-ups, growing businesses and the 30 or so universities active on campus at any one time. This creates almost limitless potential for people to collaborate and for technologies that develop in one sector to help shape another. Adaptix is one example: it developed a pioneering portable 3D medical X-ray machine based on technology used to study stars in distant galaxies. This allows doctors to get a more comprehensive view of areas where they suspect tumours are growing, leading to more effective treatment and earlier diagnosis.
“Harwell combines firms, facilities and researchers leading in some of the most exciting areas of Human Discovery. Working closely with agile investment capital is crucial to unlocking progress against the challenges of our time and we are delighted to host and sponsor Venturefest in 2021.” Stuart Grant, CEO, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus
