The International Centre for Advanced Materials (ICAM) is pleased to announce the extension of its well-established academic-industry collaboration framework agreement broadening its scope to include a wider range of topics including materials, chemistry, catalysis, biosciences, and subsurface, with a focus on enabling technologies that support bp's ambition to deliver energy to the world, today and tomorrow.
The ICAM is a successful partnership between bp, The University of Manchester, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Since its launch in 2012, the ICAM has supported research ranging from PhD-led exploratory projects to large-scale strategic initiatives involving multiple teams. The Centre has strengthened research capabilities, fostered interdisciplinary collaboration and provided students and early career researchers with valuable experience working alongside bp experts. Its model embeds bp Mentors within project teams, ensuring research remains industrially relevant and accelerates translation from laboratory to application.
The ICAM's Next Chapter
Building on more than a decade of interdisciplinary research in materials science, the ICAM will continue to make a difference in today's energy systems and help build tomorrow's, while aligning with bp's strategic interests and technology roadmaps.
The ICAM's research supports bp's ambition to be a net zero company and to help get the world to net zero by 2050 or sooner by improving understanding of materials, processes and energy systems that can lower emissions and enhance performance. Recent examples include research on sustainable catalysts for CO₂ conversion through the ICAM's EPSRC Prosperity Partnership on Sustainable Catalysis for Clean Growth, and work to develop better modelling tools for sustainable aviation fuel.
In recent years, the ICAM has welcomed additional expertise from associate members including Cardiff University and Johnson Matthey, both central to its previously mentioned Prosperity Partnership as well as University College London, University of Edinburgh, University of Leeds, University of Sheffield and University of Texas at Austin.
In its next chapter, the ICAM will continue to exemplify what can be achieved when industry and academia work together to address energy challenges.
