In a statement, Tata officials said engineers and researchers will be working on new steel coatings, including graphene, in advanced coatings research laboratories.

“We will be working with world-class scientists and researchers to create new steels for customers who are shaping the low-carbon technologies of tomorrow,” said Hans Fischer, chief technical officer of Tata Steel’s European division.

The opening marks the first phase of Tata Steel’s relocation of its U.K. research and development arm to the University of Warwick campus.

In the second phase, additional laboratory facilities will be built at the university, ultimately leading to the establishment of a hub for advanced steel research. The center also will accommodate Tata Steel’s three professorial chairs in steel research at Warwick, together with their academic research teams and a comprehensive array of research equipment.  

"Opening this new R&D center at the University of Warwick is a major step toward consolidating and strengthening our R&D in the U.K. through collaboration in a single location with a knowledge center and with some of our customers,” said Debashish Bhattacharjee, Tata Steel’s group director for research and development. 

“This will help us accelerate our open innovation activities and our processes to manage how we create new ideas and translate them into value addition to our customers.”