University of Huddersfield academic Professor Pavlos Lazaridis has been awarded a £450,000 grant by the EPSRC (the UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) to fund vital equipment to further his research into future 6G networks.
The core equipment grant will fund three key hi-tech pieces: a 110 GHz vector network analyser, a 43.5 GHz signal generator, and a portable combined 50 GHz VNA and spectrum analyser.
Together, they will seek to improve the University of Huddersfield’s research capacity when it comes to higher frequency radio frequency systems that are related to next-generation technologies, including 5G/6G communications, metamaterials, satellite communications, and advanced sensor technologies.
Professor Lazaridis, an expert in electronic and electrical engineering within the School of Computing and Engineering, leads the University’s Systems, Telecommunications, and Antenna Research Group (STAR). The equipment will be used in two ongoing international Horizon Europe projects he is collaborating on – namely ISAC-NEWTON and 6G-ICARUS.
The former involves University of Huddersfield academics being part of a doctoral network training a new generation of experts in 6G networks. It is a Europe-wide project focusing on research into integrated sensing and communications for 6G and involves a total of 17 academic and industrial partners.
The latter is a partnership of 22 organisations across Europe, the US, and Brazil that are investigating and improving on current technologies in order to address obstacles that 6G networks will face and to define the future wireless networks (FWNs).
Professor Lazaridis comments, “These state-of-the-art instruments will tremendously increase our research capabilities and place us in the top of 6G research. We are grateful to the EPSRC.”
The EPSRC, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), is the main funding body for engineering and physical sciences research in the UK. It invests in research and skills to advance knowledge, as well as supporting new ideas and transformative technologies.
UKRI is a public body sponsored by the UK Government’s Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology, designed to foster the research culture needed for research and innovation excellence.
