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The Met Office Academic Partnership is a cluster of research excellence that brings together the Met Office and institutions who are among the leading UK Universities in weather and climate science
The Met Office Academic Partnership brings together the Met Office and institutions who are among the leading UK Universities in weather and climate science through a formal collaboration to advance the science and skill of weather and climate prediction. This helps the Met Office to reach blue skies research, connect with key institutions and develop the next generation of researchers.
UCL joined the MOAP in 2020 alongside the University of Bristol, connecting with existing partners including the University of Exeter, University of Leeds, University of Oxford and University of Reading.
The partnership between UCL and the Met Office unites UCL’s cross disciplinary expertise in data sciences for weather and climate, bringing together UCL’s strengths in environmental sciences, planetary physics, mathematics, statistical sciences, data sciences and more. For UCL researchers this offers the opportunity to benefit from formal collaboration arrangements in areas where research aligns, optimise funding opportunities as they arise and influence major funding agencies at a variety of levels.
The UCL Met Office Join Chair is Professor Serge Guillas in Statistical Science.
What are the aims of the partnership?
- To draw together world-class expertise around a focused programme of joint research to tackle key challenges in weather and climate science and prediction.
- To maximise the return on the UK's investment in research and development in its leading institutions, in order to provide society with the best possible advice.
- To combine our strengths to secure the UK's position in leading the world in weather forecasting and climate prediction.
- To build a cluster of research excellence that can be instrumental in determining priorities for future funding.
- To provide an outstanding environment to develop the science leaders of tomorrow in this very challenging area of research and delivery.
What does the Partnership do and how is this different to existing collaborations?
The Partnership sets in place formal arrangements for collaboration on key areas of science of common interest to the members and where alignment of research efforts brings substantial benefits in terms of the advancement of the science and services. It seeks to maximise the investment of the UK Government in weather and climate science, by ensuring that a critical mass of effort is brought to bear on key science challenges in a properly coordinated manner. This will allow the best science to be brought forward as rapidly as possible into the delivery of the best services.
The Partnership considers where strategic investment of resources should be channelled, to seek to optimise the funding that comes available and to work together to influence the future agendas of major funding agencies at national, European and international levels. A key ambition of the Partnership is to provide an outstanding environment to develop the science leaders of tomorrow in this very challenging area of research and delivery.
The formation of the MOAP was the first time that a group of leading Universities has joined forces with a leading Government Research and Service organisation to form a cluster of research excellence aimed at accelerating scientific research and its pull-through into societal benefits.
The UCL-Met Office Academic Partnership
Our vision for the partnership development at UCL is to identify opportunities for transformative Data Science in weather and climate science. Our plan is to energise, modernise and unleash the power of cutting-edge approaches in multiple strands of Data Science: Ensembles, Uncertainty Quantification, Data Assimilation. Find out more information and get involved here.