Physical & personnel research

The Physical & Personnel Research programme is funded and managed by CPNI and operates through a range of research and development suppliers. The programme does not tend to issue open calls for tenders, but if you are a research and development organisation operating in our area of interest we would be happy to talk to you about our requirements.

The Physical & Personnel Research and development programme operates by:

• commissioning basic research to develop technical knowledge, tools, techniques, standards and equipment to address national security threats in key priority areas
• development of security standards for physical security equipment and installation
• practical evaluation of commercially available off-the-shelf equipment
• horizon-scanning to identify emerging technologies for security applications
• building partnerships to leverage funding and burden share with others.

The programme covers the following areas:

• human factors - for example, biometrics, human behaviour, design of systems
• electronics and control systems - for example, detection and vision systems, access control, multi-sensor networks, in-vehicle systems, SCADA, and so on
• structural - for example, ballistics and blast, physical barriers, containers and doors, design, air flow
• screening and detection - for example, explosives, weapons, chemical, biological and radiological materials.