The University of Plymouth is a leading research organisation with specific academic expertise in renewable energy, cyber, marine autonomy and clean maritime. We use this expertise to help businesses develop new products, ideas and concepts.

We’re an applied research university, with arguably the broadest marine and maritime portfolio of any university in Europe, so we’re well equipped to provide testing and validation facilities for your projects. Our facilities include a ship and navigation simulator, a fleet of vessels for sea trials, a high-performance computer and an ocean simulator lab for physical testing.

We can act as an academic partner in funding bids, and our laboratory of environmental operations gives businesses access to our scientists and tech experts.

As business relationship manager, Sarah connects organisations to the university’s expertise and facilities, liaising with industry to find the right solutions. She manages projects related to marine technology, with a focus on clean maritime and autonomous vessels.

We helped create Plymouth’s electric ferries, including the UK’s first sea-going electric ferry, assisting the ferry operators and boat builders. We also worked on Plymouth’s electric boat charging network, with Princess Yachts, Aqua Superpower and Plymouth City Council.

We’ve carried out a study of cyberisks to electric vessels with electric propulsion specialist RAD, and helped investigate how electric boats can feed power into the grid.

We have a huge range of expertise and knowledge across all things maritime and marine.

At the Centre for Decarbonisation and Offshore Renewable Energy, we’re leading the move to low-carbon transport and renewables.

Our £3.2M Cyber-SHIP lab tests and evaluates maritime cyber security, creating a physical twin of any ship’s bridge to put operators in real-life environments.  And we have the UK’s first fully autonomous coastal monitoring network, which uses a connected network of at-sea remote sensors such as buoys and autonomous vessels to  map the ocean.

Most projects the University is involved with are funded. But we may be able to offer sector advice or insights without linking directly to a project or funding.