HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) is an
executive agency An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Nort ...
of the
Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
of the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is "to maximise the impact of science and technology for the defence and security of the UK". The agency is headed by Paul Hollinshead as its Chief Executive, with the board being chaired by Adrian Belton. Ministerial responsibility lies with the
Minister for Defence Procurement The Minister of State for Defence Procurement is, as a Minister of State, a mid-level defence minister in the Ministry of Defence of the British Government. The current incumbent of the post, Conservative MP Alex Chalk, was appointed in October 20 ...
.


History

Dstl was formed from the July 2001 split of the
Defence Evaluation and Research Agency The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) was a part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) between 1995 and 2 July 2001. At the time it was the United Kingdom's largest science and technology organisation. It was regarded by its official h ...
(DERA). Dstl was established to carry out and retain the science and technology work that is best done within government, while work that could be done by industry (forming the majority of DERA's activities) was transferred to Qinetiq, a government-owned company that was later floated on the stock exchange. Dstl absorbed the Home Office's Centre for Applied Science and Technology (CAST) in April 2018, taking on CAST's role to apply science and technology to support the Home Office's operations and frontline delivery, provide evidence to support policy, and perform certain regulatory functions. Dstl was a
trading fund A trading fund is an executive agency, government department or often simply a part of a department, that enables the department to handle its own revenues and expenses separately from overall government finances and more like a business, as opposed ...
of the MOD from its formation until 2016, when it became an
executive agency An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Nort ...
of the MOD.


Organisation

Most of Dstl's funding comes from the MOD, while a small portion comes from other government departments and commercial sources. In 2016/17, 91% of Dstl's £587m income came from the MOD. In April 2015, Dstl completed a major reorganisation, merging twelve operating departments into five divisions. The motivation behind this change was to enable more coherent and productive delivery to customers and simplify access routes for suppliers.


Leadership

*
Martin Earwicker Martin John Earwicker (born 11 May 1948) was Director of the National Museum of Science and Industry group of British museums (including the Science Museum (London), Science Museum, the National Railway Museum, and the National Media Museum) from ...
(2001–06): Chief Executive from its creation in 2001, until he left in 2006 for the
Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in mu ...
. * Dr Frances Saunders (2006–11): took over as acting Chief Executive in May 2006 and was appointed as Chief Executive in August 2007. On 29 June 2011, Saunders announced to staff that her post had been advertised and that she would not be applying. *
Jonathan Lyle Jonathan Henry Lyle CB (born February 1959) is a British engineer and former senior civil servant. He served as chief executive of Dstl between March 2012 and September 2017. Biography After an initial post with the Ministry of Defence in ...
(2012–17): formerly Director of the Programme Office at Dstl, placed into an acting role and was appointed in March 2012. * David Marsh: acting Chief Executive from September 2017 to January 2018. * Gary Aitkenhead (2018–2021). * Doug Umbers: interim Chief Executive from April 2021 to February 2022. * Paul Hollinshead (2022 - )


Operations

Dstl carries out a broad range of work from high-level analysis to support Ministry of Defence policy and procurement decisions, to technical research in defence areas such as
biomedical science Biomedical sciences are a set of sciences applying portions of natural science or formal science, or both, to develop knowledge, interventions, or technology that are of use in healthcare or public health. Such disciplines as medical microbio ...
and
electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
, alongside operational work such as
forensic analysis Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal p ...
of
explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...
and providing paid volunteer scientists to Iraq and Afghanistan to provide rapid scientific advice to British forces. It has done work for around 40 government departments and agencies including the Home Office and
Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...
. It undertakes research with both industry and academia to achieve its role. Following a review and consultation process initiated by MOD's Chief Scientific Advisor (CSA), it became responsible for the formulation and commission of MOD's non-nuclear research programme from 1 April 2010, under the responsibility of the Dstl Programme Office. Within the Programme Office were 16 domains with some established as Science and Technology Centres, including Armour and Protection, Cyber and Influence, Counter Terrorism, and CBR (Chemical, Biological and Radiological). These centres fund research via the Centre for Defence Enterprise, also part of the Programme Office. A subsequent MOD CSA-led review in 2015 into MOD's science and technology capability recommended that the commissioning of science and technology should be independent of the delivery. Following this, the commissioning role was moved to
Defence Science and Technology Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...
(DST) within MOD Head Office, with Dstl focusing on delivery. Within the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 was a proposal to create "a government-backed service designed to help small and medium-sized businesses bring new ideas to market more quickly". In 2016, it was announced by Defence Secretary
Michael Fallon Sir Michael Cathel Fallon (born 14 May 1952) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 2014 to 2017. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Sevenoaks from 1997 to 2019, ...
that this 'Defence and Security Accelerator' would have access to an £800m innovation fund and build on the 'Centre for Defence Enterprise' model, operating within Dstl. In 2017, Dstl began a five-year programme of innovation in space science. In 2019, Dstl opened a new satellite ground control station at Portsdown West to support future space research. In March 2020, scientists from Dstl began supporting
Public Health England Public Health England (PHE) was an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care in England which began operating on 1 April 2013 to protect and improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. Its formation came as a ...
to better understand
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
during the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confir ...
. By January 2021, around 300 scientists were said to be involved with COVID-19 support.


R-Cloud

Research Cloud (or R-Cloud) is the Dstl's
supply chain In commerce, a supply chain is a network of facilities that procure raw materials, transform them into intermediate goods and then final products to customers through a distribution system. It refers to the network of organizations, people, acti ...
marketplace for science and technology research. Version 4 went live on 1 December 2020. R-Cloud frameworks cover eight "capability areas": * Command, Control, Communication and Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR); * Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN); * Counter Terrorism and Security (CT&S); * Cyber; * Human Capability (HC); * Integrated
Survivability Survivability is the ability to remain alive or continue to exist. The term has more specific meaning in certain contexts. Ecological Following disruptive forces such as flood, fire, disease, war, or climate change some species of flora, fauna, ...
(IS); * Platform Systems (PS); * Weapons.


Locations

Current sites include: *
Alverstoke Alverstoke is a small settlement which forms part of the borough of Gosport, on the south coast of Hampshire, England. It stretches east–west from Fort Blockhouse, Haslar to Browndown Battery, and is centred east of the shore of Stokes Bay and ...
, Hampshire (as a tenant of the
Institute of Naval Medicine The Institute of Naval Medicine is the main research centre and training facility of the Royal Navy Medical Service. History The site was established in 1969 to research environmental health conditions for submariners in the Royal Navy. At a saf ...
) *
Fort Halstead Fort Halstead was a research site of Dstl, an executive agency of the UK Ministry of Defence. It is situated on the crest of the Kentish North Downs, overlooking the town of Sevenoaks, southeast of London. Originally constructed in 1892 as part ...
, Kent (departure planned since 2011, expected to be complete in 2022) *
Harwell Science and Innovation Campus The Harwell Science and Innovation Campus is a 700-acre science and technology campus in Oxfordshire, England. Over 6,000 people work there in over 240 public and private sector organisations, working across sectors including Space, Clean Ener ...
, Oxfordshire *
Porton Down Porton Down is a science park in Wiltshire, England, just northeast of the village of Porton, near Salisbury. It is home to two British government facilities: a site of the Ministry of Defence's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl ...
, Wiltshire (headquarters) * Portsdown West, Hampshire The former CAST sites at Langhurst, West Sussex and
Sandridge Sandridge is a village and civil parish between St Albans and Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire, England. History The original name was "Saundruage" meaning a place of sandy soil serviced by bond tenants. The earliest recorded mention of Sandri ...
, Hertfordshire were closed around 2020 after the 2018 merger of CAST into Dstl. Sections of 150-millimetre-thick (5.9 in) pre-atomic steel plate uncontaminated with
radionuclide A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess nuclear energy, making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation; transfer ...
s, recovered from HMS ''Vanguard'', were used for the shielding of the whole body monitor at the Radiobiological Research Laboratory (now Dstl) at
Alverstoke Alverstoke is a small settlement which forms part of the borough of Gosport, on the south coast of Hampshire, England. It stretches east–west from Fort Blockhouse, Haslar to Browndown Battery, and is centred east of the shore of Stokes Bay and ...
,
Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...
, Hampshire.


Spin-offs


Ploughshare Innovations

In April 2005 the technology transfer company Ploughshare Innovations Ltd was formed to manage and exploit intellectual property within Dstl. Dstl and Ploughshare Innovations have successfully spun-out several new companies including Alaska Food Diagnostics and P2i Ltd.


See also

*
The Technical Cooperation Program The Technical Cooperation Program (TTCP) is a long-standing international organisation concerned with cooperation on defence science and technology matters, including national security and civil defence. Its membership comprises Australia, Canada, ...
(TTCP) – an international defence science and technology collaboration between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. *
DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adv ...
– US Defence Agency responsible for the development of new technology for the US military. *
Defence Science and Technology Organisation The Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) is part of the Australian Department of Defence dedicated to providing science and technology support to safeguard Australia and its national interests. The agency's name was changed from Defence ...
– a branch of the Australian Department of Defence that researches and develops technologies for the Australian defence industry. * Qinetiq – the part of Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) privatised in June 2001, with the remainder of DERA renamed Dstl.


References


External links

*
Ploughshare Innovations
{{Authority control Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom Biosafety level 4 laboratories Defence agencies of the United Kingdom Defence science and technology agencies Organisations based in Wiltshire Science and technology in Wiltshire Trading funds of the United Kingdom government 2001 establishments in the United Kingdom