Professor Lord Bhattacharyya has committed to a five-year programme of personal donations to the University of Warwick that will create a fund worth around £1m to support research.

This is thought to be the largest-ever personal donation to a UK university by a serving member of academic staff. 

The Professor believes his donation will reinforce the arguments for funding research. “It is vital that we increase the research budget for industrial and academic collaboration in the Technology Strategy Board. I feel now that I must match that passionately held belief with my own personal financial commitment," he comments.

"The new fund will inspire and support the very best research at the University of Warwick. However, I also hope my personal financial contribution underlines how serious I am when I call on businesses and government to enhance the support they provide to UK researchers.”

The fund is to be used to “support the stimulation and facilitation of research of the highest quality” and will include the creation of an annual reward for the Warwick researcher who has achieved most in a given year.

Professor Lord Bhattacharyya is director and founder of WMG (formerly Warwick Manufacturing Group), an academic multi-disciplinary unit of the University of Warwick. He founded WMG in 1980 with a mission to reinvigorate UK manufacturing through the application of cutting-edge university research and effective knowledge transfer. WMG now employs over 300 full-time staff with a further 150 associates.

Professor Lord Bhattacharyya  was awarded a knighthood in 2003 for services to higher education and industry and was elevated to the Lords in 2004.