About the UK Energy Research Centre

The UK Energy Research Centre carries out world-class research into sustainable future energy systems.  It is the hub of UK energy research and the gateway between the UK and the international energy research communities.  Our interdisciplinary, whole systems research informs UK policy development and research strategy.

The Centre was established in 2004, following a recommendation from the 2002 Energy Review (see p146) initiated by Sir David King, the UK Government's Chief Scientific Advisor.

UKERC is funded by the Research Councils' Energy Programme.

The Centre was funded for an initial five years and in May 2009 was awarded a further round of funding for another five years.

To see an overview of achievements see our Milestones.

Find out more about UKERC’s role in the Research Councils UK Energy Programme in the ‘Pioneering a Low Carbon Future’ video.

UKERC organises its networking and research activity under five related themes

• Technology and Policy Assessment
• Energy and Environment
• Energy Supply
• Energy Demand
• Energy Systems

And four functions

• The Meeting Place, a focal point for the Centre's extensive networking activity, bringing together academics and stakeholders from different disciplines and professions
• The Research Atlas, consists of tools to assist policy makers and researchers to review the current status of UK Energy Research and Development, and identify the key research challenges
• The Energy Data Centre, which is an outward-facing service for the UK energy research community, directing interested parties to publicly available energy and related data  
• The National Energy Research Network (NERN), a network for all energy researchers which provides relevant information and enables researchers to find each other

Read more about How UKERC was first established

Meet the team