Re-skilling project

Skilled individuals who have been affected by the economic downturn are being offered support by Cranfield University as part of a £480,000 re-skilling initiative.

The funding, awarded by the Economic Challenge Investment Fund (ECIF) and announced by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), has been designed to help the university support individuals who are facing redundancy, alongside businesses requiring additional training.

The university plans to use its experience with its Queen’s Award-winning Fellowship in Manufacturing Management (FMM) programmes and its water-sector expertise to retrain individuals who have become redundant in one sector to become employable in those that have continuing shortages.

As one of 70 universities to gain a share of the £27m made available by the ECIF, Cranfield will be targeting shortages in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)-based sectors.

Prof Sir John O’Reilly said: ‘We are pleased to have received the £480,000 funding, which will enable us to address simultaneously both the re-skilling needs of individuals and of business via bespoke offerings, encouraging businesses to keep up with current trends throughout the recession.’