In a report in Nature (Horton, B., Nature, 1999, 400, 797-799), the need for collaboration between government, industry and academic institutions to form sustainable chemistry centres was stressed as vital in order to rethink traditional chemistry processes to be not only beneficial to the environment but also make economic sense for industry. The QUILL Research Centre, under the co-direction of Professors Kenneth R. Seddon and Jim Swindall CBE, is exactly one of these chemistry centres and is the first (and only) in the world to focus on ionic liquids.

Industry/University Cooperative Research

The QUILL Centre is modelled on the National Science Foundation's Industry/University Cooperative Research Centre (I/UCRC).  The aim of I/UCRCs is to develop long-term partnerships among industry, academia, and government.  Therefore, the QUILL Centre conducts research that is of interest to both the Centre and industry. An I/UCRC not only contributes to a Nation's research infrastructure base and enhances the intellectual capacity of the engineering and science workforce through the integration of research and education, but also encourages and fosters international cooperation and collaborative projects. 

Research Models at QUILL

Since it is an I/UCRC, research conducted at QUILL is largely driven by the needs of our industry members; research projects are run either as collectively requested by our industry partners or on a one-to-one basis with an industrial sponsor. In addition, QUILL also performs fundamental research (usually funded by UK research council and EU grants) aimed at enhancing the knowledge base of ionic liquids.