UNIVERSITY OF SURREY

Their core work

The University of Surrey is a research-intensive UK university with deep technical strength in 5G/telecommunications, neuroscience computing, and health research. They build and test next-generation mobile network architectures, develop brain simulation and neuromorphic computing platforms, and conduct clinical and public health studies ranging from cancer care to diabetes prevention. Their work spans from fundamental wireless communications standards (5G-PPP programme) to applied engineering like prosthetics design and electric vehicle systems, making them a versatile technology partner across digital and health domains.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early H2020 period (2014-2018), Surrey was heavily invested in 5G telecommunications infrastructure and IoT — participating in the 5G-PPP programme, building IoT testbeds, and working on smart city interoperability. By the later period (2019-2022), a clear pivot emerged toward neuroscience computing (brain simulation, neuromorphic computing, neurorobotics) and applied machine learning, alongside growing activity in electric vehicles, organic electronics, and health equity topics like diversity and equality in research. The telecommunications foundation remains, but the centre of gravity has shifted toward computational neuroscience and AI-driven applications.

Surrey is transitioning from a telecommunications-centric research profile toward convergence of AI, neuroscience computing, and autonomous systems — expect future proposals in neuromorphic AI hardware and intelligent transport.

How they like to work

Surrey operates predominantly as an active consortium partner (80% of projects), but demonstrates strong coordination capability with 25 projects led — particularly in telecommunications and training networks. With 1,206 unique consortium partners across 56 countries, they function as a network hub rather than a loyal-partner institution, indicating broad adaptability and willingness to join new consortia. Their mix of large RIA projects (66) and MSCA mobility actions (19) suggests they are comfortable both in heavyweight technical consortia and in researcher training and exchange networks.

Surrey has collaborated with over 1,200 distinct partners across 56 countries, making them one of the most extensively networked UK universities in H2020. Their reach extends well beyond Europe, with connections across Asia, the Americas, and beyond through MSCA-RISE mobility projects and global ICT initiatives.

What sets them apart

Surrey's distinctive strength is the combination of world-class telecommunications research with growing neuroscience computing and health capabilities — a rare combination that enables cross-domain projects where connected systems meet human-centred applications. Unlike many UK universities that cluster around a single discipline, Surrey's 130 H2020 projects span from 5G radio access to brain simulation to prosthetics design, giving consortium builders a multi-disciplinary partner within a single institution. Their strong MSCA track record (19 mobility actions) also makes them an excellent host for researcher exchange and training components in proposals.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SPEED-5G
  Largest coordinator grant at EUR 940,125, leading quality-of-service and spectrum sharing research in the flagship 5G-PPP programme.
• iKaaS
  Early coordinator role (2014) in intelligent Knowledge-as-a-Service, demonstrating Surrey's leadership in cloud/AI platform architectures before the current AI wave.
• MacSeNet
  Coordinated a EUR 546K MSCA training network in machine sensing, establishing Surrey as a hub for training the next generation of ML/signal processing researchers.