Edinburgh robotics experts are to join in an initiative that seeks to develop collaborations with industry and academia. The University is a founding member of the EPSRC UK Robotics and Autonomous Systems Network (UK-RAS Network).
SACSESS kicked off on 1 March 2013. This European collaborative project involves 26 partners from European universities, nuclear research bodies, TSOs and industrial stakeholders and aims to generate fundamental safety improvements on the future design of an Advanced Processing Unit.
Nucleic hybridisation is core to many biological processes and protocols used in molecular biology such as nucleic acid amplification, e.g. by PCR. This project aims to radically simplify nucleic acid amplification by driving the reaction via means of electrochemistry. To fulfil this aim, specialised expertise in biosensors, physical chemistry, biophysics and microsystems engineering is brought together.
How can we construct a high-resolution camera capable of imaging the time-of-arrival, polarisation and wavelength of each of the maximal 10Gphoton/s emitted from a labelled, biological cell?
Such a measurement would capture the complete information available in the optical signal, and significantly enhance our ability to observe the organisation, movement and interactions of cellular components at molecular scales.
This project is all about multi-disciplinary collaboration - and capitalisation in a clinical setting of the many new vistas and opportunities that will arise. As such this research programme brings together a group of world class scientists (physicists, chemists, engineers and computer experts) and clinicians to design, make and test a cutting-edge bedside technology platform which will help doctors in the intensive care unit (ICU) make rapid and accurate diagnoses that would inform therapy and ensure patients get the right treatment, quickly. While we are developing our technology platform with a focus on ICU, it will also be applicable to a wide range of other healthcare situations.
Cryptosporidium is a waterborne microorganism which causes severe diarrhoea and can be fatal for immuno-compromised individuals, infants and young children. It is estimated that Cryptosporidium contamination of drinking water results in 250-500 million cases each year in developing countries and 60,000 in the UK alone. The Cryptosporidium organism has a thick outer wall that is resistant to many conventional water treatment methods, and outbreaks are a problem even in the developed world, negatively impacting population health and economic development - daily monitoring of the water supply is required.
Current Cryptosporidium detection methods are expensive and highly time-consuming - requiring microscopic examination by skilled scientists. Furthermore, these techniques lack species and viability information, which is essential to make well-informed public health decisions. There is, therefore, a pressing need for an instrument capable of rapidly analysing drinking water samples for the presence, species and viability of Cryptosporidium microorganisms.
A coordinated UK research programme delivering the materials science required for sustainable spent fuel reduction in a closed loop nuclear energy cycle. This multidisciplinary programme will deliver the critical research team and the platform technologies to enable scientific advance in related molten salt application areas together with the underpinning process development and training essential to establish and deliver these objectives.
Running from October 2012 to September 2016, UP-VLC is an ambitious EPSRC-funded £4.6 million Programme Grant which will explore the transformative technology of communications in an imaginative and foresighted way.
