About Us
Bringing together world-class research in astronomy and particle physics with business incubation facilities and laboratories.
The Science and Technology Facilities Council and the University of Edinburgh have long and proven histories of not only developing revolutionary science and technology but also commercialising it and creating viable businesses. This extensive knowledge and expertise is available to businesses in Scotland at the Higgs Centre for Innovation at the prestigious Royal Observatory in Edinburgh.
Part of the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC), the Higgs Centre for Innovation is a business-focused facility in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, for supporting start-ups and SMEs working in the space and data-intensive sectors, and encouraging collaboration between researchers, engineers and postgraduate students.
UK Research and Innovation
Launched in April 2018, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).
UKRI brings together the seven disciplinary research councils, Research England, which is responsible for supporting research and knowledge exchange at higher education institutions in England, and the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.
Science and Technology Facilities Council
The Higgs Centre for Innovation is part of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), one of UKRI’s research councils.
STFC’s mission is to deliver world-leading national and international research and innovation capabilities and, through those, discover the secrets of the Universe. Our major research and innovation campuses at Harwell, Daresbury and research facilities across the UK and overseas support fundamental research in astronomy, physics, computational science and space science.
UK Astronomy Technology Centre
The UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) is the national centre of excellence for the development of scientific instrumentation and facilities for ground and space-based astronomy. Based at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, and operated by STFC it has a reputation for delivering innovative and capable cameras, spectrometers and even turnkey telescope systems.
The UK ATC works with leading organisations, such as the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, to answer fundamental questions about the origins and evolution of planets, stars and galaxies. It does this by:
- designing and building state-of-the-art instruments for many of the world’s major telescopes
- managing UK and international collaborations with universities, research centres, national institutes and industry
- conducting observational and theoretical astronomical research.
UK ATC and technology delivers a range of practical benefits outside its traditional field of astronomy. Expertise in optics and imaging systems are being used for:
- biomedical imaging including tools for ophthalmology.
- biomedical imaging to detect diseases.
- instruments for monitoring the Earth’s environment from the ground, from pilotless aircraft and space (including via cubesats)
The Royal Observatory, Edinburgh
The UK ATC manages the Royal Observatory Edinburgh Visitor Centre, whose programmes include the UK Dark Sky Discovery initiative to engage schools and communities across the UK.
The Observatory site is shared with the Institute for Astronomy of the University of Edinburgh, creating a vibrant mix of astronomers, students and engineers.
Business Incubation
We offer a unique environment and support package to help accelerate growth for start-ups.
Facilities
Affordable and flexible access to cutting-edge equipment and expertise in remote sensing instrumentation, space technology and data intensive science.
Collaboration
In order to ensure that the research carried out by the University of Edinburgh and STFC is exploited to the full and has a real commercial and societal impact, we actively encourage collaborative working with SMEs and large corporates.
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