The University of Bath (www.bath.ac.uk) has received £28.9 million of Government investment for the Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems.

Scheduled to open in 2020, the £60 million IAAPS will lead the development of ultra-low-emission vehicles from a site at the Bristol and Bath Science Park.

It is hoped that the new centre will attract a further £67 million in automotive research investment by 2025, generate £800 million in turnover for the sector in the UK, and create some 1,900 new jobs.

In addition to the £28.9 million from the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s UK Research Partnership Investment Fund, there will be £10 million from the West of England Combined Authority and Local Enterprise Partnership’s Local Growth Fund.

Dame Glynis Breakwell, president and vice-chancellor of the university, said: “I am delighted that IAAPS has received the support and backing of the Government.

The University of Bath has over 40 years of automotive research excellence in collaboration with some of the world’s leading companies and is ideally placed to turn this opportunity into a reality.”

The IAAPS will support training and development in automotive engineering, with apprenticeships and higher-education opportunities. It will work alongside global companies such as McLaren and Ford, and it will support the work of small and medium-size businesses.

Graham Hoare, director of global vehicle evaluation and verification at Ford, said: “IAAPS will build on the strength of the University of Bath’s competence in propulsion development to bring real-world examples and real-world environments into the laboratory, thereby providing a massive step forward in innovating propulsion systems.”