UK university with world-class climate science, earth observation, and weather prediction, plus applied research in food systems and security.
The University of Reading is a major UK research university with deep strength in atmospheric science, climate modelling, and earth system observation. They build and validate climate data records from satellite observations, develop weather and climate prediction models, and study how climate change affects ecosystems, biodiversity, and agriculture. Beyond environmental sciences, they maintain active research programmes in food systems, border security biometrics, cognitive neuroscience (music, language, emotion), and rare disease immunotherapy.
Core expertise demonstrated across CRESCENDO (earth system modelling), PRIMAVERA (high-resolution climate simulation), CUNDA (nonlinear data assimilation), APPLICATE (polar prediction), and ESiWACE (weather/climate simulation).
Coordinated FIDUCEO (climate data fidelity from Earth observations) and participated in EUSTACE (surface temperature), URBANFLUXES (satellite heat flux), and MACC-III (atmospheric composition monitoring).
Active in IMPREX (hydrological extremes), ANYWHERE (extreme weather response), ERA4CS (climate services), and Blue-Action (Arctic weather impact).
Coordinated CERERE (cereal diversity in organic farming), participated in RECAP (Common Agricultural Policy services), with recent keywords including resource efficient agricultural systems and phenotyping.
Coordinated PROTECT (biometrics border project) and recent keywords include border surveillance and harsh environment security applications.
Coordinated CAASD (pitch processing in congenital amusia and autism), with related work on emotion, cognitive processing, and rare diseases including Huntington's disease.
In the early H2020 period (2014–2018), Reading focused heavily on atmospheric science fundamentals — boundary layer turbulence, climate modelling, air pollution, and building infrastructure for earth observation (FIDUCEO, MACC-III, ACTRIS-2). From 2019 onward, their work shifted toward applied climate risk assessment, biodiversity and ecosystem services, carbon cycle dynamics, and immunotherapy — signalling a move from building measurement tools to understanding real-world climate impacts and broadening into life sciences. Their food and agriculture portfolio also grew in the later period, with emphasis on phenotyping technologies and resource-efficient farming.
Reading is transitioning from climate observation and modelling infrastructure toward impact-oriented research — expect growing activity in climate adaptation, ecosystem services valuation, and agricultural resilience.
Reading operates as both a project leader and a reliable consortium partner, coordinating 27 of 88 projects (31%) — a strong coordination rate for a university. They work across 794 unique partners in 57 countries, indicating they function as a network hub rather than relying on a small set of repeat collaborators. Their mix of large RIA consortia and individual MSCA fellowships shows they can anchor major multi-partner efforts while also hosting visiting researchers for focused work.
With 794 unique consortium partners across 57 countries, Reading maintains one of the broader collaboration networks among UK universities in H2020. Their partnerships span all of Europe with strong links to climate research centres, agricultural institutes, and earth observation agencies.
Reading's Department of Meteorology is among the top atmospheric science groups in the world, and this shows in their H2020 portfolio — few universities can match their depth across climate modelling, satellite data validation, and weather prediction in a single institution. They combine this core climate strength with applied work in agriculture, food systems, and security, making them a versatile partner who can bridge environmental science with real-world applications. Their 31% coordination rate and massive partner network make them an effective consortium anchor, not just a technical contributor.
