27 September 2019 
Martin Higgs, Communications Officer
We’re very pleased to be able to close the week with some good news about a new AUDE member. UKRI, the United Kingdom Research and Innovation organisation has now joined us. Made up of a number of research-focused bodies, UKRI is a fascinating organisation and we’ve enjoyed finding out more over the last few weeks. They – or one of their component bodies such as the Medical Research Council, the Science and Technology Facilities Council, Innovate UK, or the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council – are deeply interwoven with the UK research effort and may well have buildings and operations housed on your own campuses. So, a familiar name. And for those of you managing disparate buildings in far flung places, with all of the problems that can arise, a familiar estates challenge.
And there are going to be real learnings for our university members too. NERC for instance – that’s the Natural Environment Research Council, and another component organisation of UKRI – is the largest funder of independent environmental science, training and innovation, delivered through our universities. NERC are the commissioners of Boaty McBoatface, or, more accurately, the RSS Sir David Attenborough, the polar research ship launched this week that is spearheading the UK’s work in that vital component of environmental research. As our estates teams shift increasingly towards every aspect of the sustainability agenda we’re looking forward to finding areas for mutual support with UKRI and all of its component bodies.
UKRI – welcome to the AUDE team, we’re delighted you have joined us. For those of you wanting to do your own quick research into a fascinating organisation, the relevant websites are:
