Government stumps up £290m for major UK science projects

Space exploration and neutron microscope projects in line for more funding

The government has announced plans to provide £290m for investment in major science projects ranging from space exploration to neutron microscopes.

The funding was announced by minister for universities and science David Willetts during a speech at Jodrell Bank Observatory. Willetts said the investment would deliver huge long-term benefits for the UK and the technology market as a whole.

"Investment in science is a crucial part of this government's long-term economic plan. It's about investing in our future, helping grow new industries and create more jobs - and that will mean more financial security for people across the country," he said.

The funding is split into three areas. The first will see £165m put forward towards the creation of a new neutron microscope that would help lead research in several areas, ranging from creating better computer chips to finding the materials to build faster planes.

Another £100m would go towards the ongoing construction and management of the Square Kilometre Array satellite sites, to be built in South Africa and Australia (pictured above). Once completed the SLA is expected to generate huge amounts of data, equivalent to 10 times the world's internet traffic.

"After the International Space Station and the Large Hadron Collider the world's next great science project is the Square Kilometre Array," said Willetts.

With such huge amounts of data being collected and needing to be analysed, British scientists are developing a central computer to carry out this work with the power of one hundred million PCs.

It is hoped the knock-on research will lead to faster smartphone chips and increased data transmissions technology that could boost internet speeds.

Finally, £25m will be invested in the Plato space mission being led by the European Space Agency (ESA) for the creation of a new telescope to seek out and gather more data on the solar system by hunting for exoplanets.

Professor Paul Hardaker, chief executive of the Institute of Physics, welcomed the funding as of vital importance to the UK's future and the ongoing quest for knowledge about our universe.

"The facilities being developed not only push forward our scientific understanding but will also deliver results that can have an impact on our everyday lives. It is involvement in these sorts of projects that will keep the UK at the forefront of global science," he said.

The funding follows on from £270m investment unveiled by the government last December for a raft of areas such as quantum computing and driverless cars.