The British Coal Utilisation Research Association
1) INTRODUCTION TO BCURA
Originally established in 1938, the British Coal Utilisation Research Association Limited (BCURA) became a registered charity in the 1960s. The aim of BCURA is to promote research and other activities concerned with the production, distribution, and use of coal and its derivatives. As part of this aim, BCURA offers grants to academic institutions to undertake research in the field of coal science. These grants have typically supported postgraduate or post-doctoral research and have taken the form of a bursary in addition to allowing for the purchase of research equipment.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) also supports fundamental research in coal science. This underpins the broader effort supported by its Carbon Abatement Technologies Strategy.
In 1991, the common interest between BCURA and the DTI Coal R&D programme was recognised and a jointly funded programme, meeting the objectives of both parties, was established. The Agreement for this jointly funded programme has been renewed at periodic intervals, now with the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, (DBERR), with the latest renewal being in April 2008 for the funding for their lifetime of the current projects.
In late 2001, BCURA formed an Industrial Panel of subscribing company members contributing to an Industrial Fund which also supports the above programmes.
There will normally be one call for proposals each year which will open in September and have a closing date in December or January, although there may be circumstances where there will be another call during the same year. This closing date will correspond with an Industrial Panel and Research Panel meeting, (to be held in February) and one of the three annual Council meetings, (to be held in April). The BCURA Industrial and Research Panels review new proposals and make appropriate recommendations to Council. The Industrial Panel consults their Members and Members of Council for the review of proposals and provides the BCURA Industrial Supervisor for each project from the staff of their organisations. Recommendations on the suitability of the research proposals received by the Industrial Panel for funding, as determined by the Chairman of the Industrial Panel following consultation with its members, are reported by the BCURA Technical Officer to the Research Panel and the BCURA Council.
Final confirmation of project selection is therefore undertaken by the BCURA Council, following recommendations from the Industrial Panel and the Research Panel with representation from the DTI (through FES), on the basis of scientific merit and strategic relevance. Ongoing projects are monitored through regular reports and progress meetings. Considerable importance is given to the dissemination of project results through publications and presentations at conferences.
BCURA’s interest in each of the projects funded by this joint programme is co-ordinated and managed by the BCURA Industrial Supervisor. The BCURA Industrial Supervisor’s role is described in Section 3.3.
The BCURA Technical Officer co-ordinates the activities of BCURA Industrial Supervisors who are appointed by Council for each project approved for funding by BCURA. The BCURA Technical Officer’s role is described in Section 3.6.
The Technical Officer also liaises with the DBERR Project Officer who is responsible for managing the DBERR’s interest in each project. The DBERR Project Officer’s role is detailed in Section 3.8.
The Technical Officer is supported by the BCURA Company Secretary who, in addition to formally letting Contracts approved by Council, also makes payments in accordance with those Contracts and provides financial information on expenditure to the Technical Officer.