TO BE PUBLISHED February 2027
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This conference will examine next steps for advanced materials in the UK, including translating research and innovation into commercially competitive manufacturing capability. Areas for discussion include commercialisation and scale-up, critical material security and supply chains, sovereign and strategic capability, industrial investment and competitiveness, Materials 4.0 and digital adoption, circular materials, and the skills and infrastructure needed to support growth through to 2030.
Industrial Strategy, the NMIP & the route to market
It will bring together stakeholders and policymakers to consider progress and next steps as implementation of the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy and Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan moves forward, with advanced materials identified as one of six frontier industries for advanced manufacturing. It also comes as the first 23 feasibility studies under the £80m National Materials Innovation Programme have been announced, with projects from its first collaborative R&D competition due to start in early 2027.
Delegates will discuss approaches to reducing fragmentation across the materials landscape, strengthening links between research, innovation and industrial demand, and accelerating translation from laboratory development through pilot and demonstration activity into manufacturing and commercial adoption. Priorities for attracting private investment and helping the UK capture economic and industrial value from its strengths in materials science will also be discussed.
Scale-up, energy costs & critical material security
The agenda will assess practical requirements for closing the scale-up gap, including access to pilot and manufacturing infrastructure, technology and manufacturing readiness, patient capital, procurement and other demand signals, and the implications of industrial energy costs for investment decisions and international competitiveness. Attendees will consider implementation of the Vision 2035: Critical Minerals Strategy, including priorities for domestic and midstream capability, rare-earth magnet manufacturing, recycling and recovery, international supply and secure access to strategically important materials.
Discussion is also expected on the role of defence and other high-value sectors in supporting demand and investment, and approaches to balancing domestic capability with international partnerships and resilient global supply chains.
Materials 4.0, skills, clusters & circularity
Sessions will examine the role of Materials 4.0 in accelerating discovery, development and industrial adoption, including AI-assisted materials design, modelling and simulation, digital twins, automation and data infrastructure, and the requirements for moving digital technologies from pilots into sustained manufacturing use. Delegates will assess workforce and skills requirements, with an Advanced Manufacturing Jobs Plan expected by the end of 2026, alongside priorities for strengthening regional clusters and links between universities, Catapults, SMEs and major manufacturers.
Further discussion is expected on the long-term policy, investment and coordination needed to improve productivity, support circular materials systems and strengthen the UK’s position in increasingly competitive global markets.
Overview of areas for discussion
- NMIP, translation & commercialisation:
- first NMIP projects and collaborative R&D funding - industry-led consortia, SME participation and priority high-growth themes - translating research into industrial adoption
- routes from laboratory to pilot, demonstration and production - manufacturing readiness, validation and qualification - access to shared facilities and specialist capability
- scale-up, investment & demand:
- patient capital and financing for capital-intensive scale-up - de-risking first-of-a-kind production - evidence required to secure follow-on private investment
- procurement and customer commitments as demand signals - defence and other strategic sectors - offtake, export opportunities and routes to commercial markets
- critical materials & supply chain security:
- Vision 2035 - domestic production, midstream processing and recycling - diversifying international supply - export controls and strategic dependencies
- £50m Critical Minerals Programme - Magnet Hub, Critical Minerals Accelerator and Demand Aggregation Platform - early delivery and take-up - pooling demand, offtake and routes to scale
- industrial competitiveness & manufacturing conditions:
- British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme - applications and eligibility ahead of implementation from April 2027
- coverage of materials processing and costs outside its scope - implications for energy-intensive materials processing and investment location
- internationally mobile investment - operating costs, infrastructure and regulatory certainty - UK propositions for advanced-material manufacturing
- Materials 4.0, data & industrial AI:
- AI-assisted discovery, modelling and simulation - automated experimentation and digital twins - development cycles and scale-up risk
- moving from pilots to deployment - trusted industrial data, validation and interoperability - SME adoption, return on investment and integration with existing production systems
- circular materials & resource productivity:
- recovery and reuse of composites, alloys, polymers and other high-value materials - secondary feedstocks - design for disassembly, recovery and remanufacture
- quality and consistency of recovered materials - standards, traceability and certifications - creating viable markets for secondary materials
- skills, clusters & implementation capacity:
- materials scientists, process and manufacturing engineers, technicians and digital capability - skills gaps - Advanced Manufacturing Jobs Plan
- connecting universities, Catapults, SMEs and manufacturers within regional clusters - access to facilities, skills and finance - translating local research strengths into investable manufacturing propositions
