UNIVERSITY OF LANCASTER

Their core work

Lancaster University is a broad-based UK research university with particular strength in advanced materials (graphene and layered structures), wireless communications at millimetre-wave and terahertz frequencies, and interdisciplinary environmental and food security research. They develop next-generation wireless network technologies including W-band and DG-band systems built on traveling wave tubes, while simultaneously running major programmes in soil science, grassland ecology, and small-scale fisheries for food security. Their research portfolio bridges fundamental physics — from neutrino oscillations to ultrafast light-matter interactions — with applied social science on disaster resilience, climate security, and digital inclusion for ageing populations.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early H2020 period (2015–2018), Lancaster focused heavily on advanced wireless communications (W-band networks, traveling wave tubes, MMICs), graphene and layered materials, and complex systems dynamics. By the later period (2019–2022), the centre of gravity shifted noticeably toward environmental and life sciences — soil microbiology, grassland ecology, food and nutrition security, and bioeconomy — while maintaining threads in fundamental physics (neutrino oscillations) and smart materials (bionanomaterials, energy harvesting). This evolution suggests a deliberate broadening from physics and engineering into interdisciplinary sustainability research.

Lancaster is moving toward interdisciplinary environment-food-climate research while retaining its engineering foundations, making it a strong partner for projects that need both technical depth and socio-ecological breadth.

How they like to work

Lancaster coordinates about 28% of its projects (21 of 75), which is high for a university — indicating confidence in project leadership and management capacity. With 877 unique partners across 53 countries, they operate as a well-connected hub rather than relying on a fixed set of collaborators. Their project sizes range from small targeted actions (EUR 50K contributions) to substantial coordinated efforts (EUR 1.5M+), showing flexibility to play different roles depending on what a consortium needs.

Lancaster has built an exceptionally wide network of 877 distinct consortium partners spanning 53 countries, reaching well beyond Europe into Latin America (ODYSSEA on Amazon dynamics) and global development contexts (FAIRFISH). This gives them one of the broadest collaboration footprints among UK universities in H2020.

What sets them apart

Lancaster's distinctive strength is its ability to combine deep engineering expertise (millimetre-wave communications, graphene devices) with applied social and environmental research within the same institution. Unlike purely technical universities, they bring strong social science capabilities — disaster resilience, digital inclusion, rural innovation — that are increasingly required in EU-funded projects. For consortium builders, this means one partner can cover both the technology development and the societal impact workpackages.

Highlights from their portfolio

• FAIRFISH
  Largest coordinated project (EUR 1.5M, running to 2025), combining food security with social-ecological systems — signals Lancaster's strategic direction.
• ULTRAWAVE
  Coordinated a flagship wireless communications project pushing beyond 100 GHz, building directly on their earlier TWEETHER success in W-band networks.
• LANGBOOT
  Largest single EC contribution (EUR 1.5M as participant) in cognitive science, investigating how language bootstraps cognitive complexity — an unusual and ambitious research question.