University of Strathclyde

Based in Glasgow, The University of Strathclyde provides the largest number of both academics and researchers working on HiDEF. Economics research is being undertaken by the Fraser of Allander Institute based within the Strathclyde Business School. The majority of HiDEF involvement within the University is through the Insitute for Energy and the Environment based within the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering along with Energy Systems Research Unit based within the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Since being granted University status in 1964, Strathclyde has forged a reputation for technical excellence and currently has over 16,000 undergraduate students and nearly 10,000 postgraduates.The department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering is currently ranked 2nd in Scotland. The Institute of Energy and Environment currently has 5 research groups, each with their own specific areas of interest with The Advanced Electrical Systems (AES) and Power Electronics, Drives and Energy Conversion (PEDEC) groups contributing to HiDEF. In total, there are 11 Strathclyde PhD students and 13 academics - including 5 professors - working on HiDEF.

Imperial College

Based in South Kensington, London, Imperial College is an instantly regonisable name in the field of academia. Ethnically diverse, with 158 nationalites represented amongst over 13,000 students, Imperial College celebrated its centenary year in 2007.

Imperial College has the second largest amount of HiDEF PhD students with 5, along with 5 academics including 2 professors. All of the Imperial College involvement within HiDEF comes from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, particularly the Control and Power group.

Cardiff University

Based in the Welsh capital and founded by Royal Charter in 1883, Cardiff University combined staff and student bodies accounts for some 33,000 people - 10% of the city's population. With 5,773 staff, Cardiff University is one of the largest employers in Wales.

Cardiff provides 4 PhD students and 3 academics - including 1 professor to the HiDEF project. All of these parties are based within the Cardiff School of Engineering and more specifically the Institute of Energy.

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford dominates its host city, with the university being the most instantly recognisable feature of the city. Almost 20,000 students are registered with the University, with less than 1% of students dropping out. The University is an agglomeration of 38 self governing colleges and has over 1,600 academic staff, 3,500 research staff and 4,600 research students.

Unlike most of the other HiDEF consortium universities, Oxford's involvement is not through engineering but through the Environmental Change Institute, which is hosted within the School of Geography and the Environment.

Loughborough University

Loughborough was awarded University status in 1966, formerly being Loughborough Technical Institute. Lougbourough has over 11,000 and nearly 6,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students respectively, and will be the base of the Great Britain and Japan teams for the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Loughborugh University's involvement with the HiDEF project is through the well known Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology(CREST); a subsidiary of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering

University of Bath

Given its university status by Royal Charter in 1966, The University of Bath is located in its namesake city, famous for its Roman baths. The Universityhas approximately 9,000 undergraduate and 4,000 postgraduate students respectively. Like Loughborugh, the University of Bath is synonymous with sport, and will host the Great Britain Paralympic team for the 2012 games.

The University of Bath has HiDEF involvement through the Sustainable Energy Research Institute(SERT), which is hosted within the Department of Mechanical Engineering.