University science departments are to get £70m for high-technology research equipment.

Science Minister Lord Sainsbury and Education Minister Baroness Blackstone have announced details of awards to more than 50 universities.

The funding, made under the Joint Research Equipment Initiative, provides universities with the latest scientific hardware, with the aim of developing and supporting advanced research projects.

"Investment in research infrastructure is essential not only for science in the United Kingdom, but for the future of our knowledge driven economy," said the science minister.

Star-gazing

Among the equipment to be bought with the funding will be a spectrometer, costing almost £250,000, which will be used by Cardiff University in research into the treatment of industrial effluents.

Computers worth £2.56m will be provided for the University of Leicester for an astrophysics project which will examine the formation of stars and planets.

In Scotland, a joint project between universities, the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, will receive almost £500,000 for equipment for research into climate and environmental change.

There are also awards of over £2m to be made to Leeds and Cambridge universities, with awards worth over £1m for Oxford, Manchester, Nottingham, Liverpool, and Birmingham universities and Imperial College London.