Surrey Celebrates Science Festival
various venues across the county, including the University of Surrey campus, theatres, galleries, museums and libraries and more. From workshops, to celebrity talks and discussions, to performances, hands-on activities and excursions, there were topics and events to suit families and schoolchildren as well as practising scientists and local businesses. The British Science Festival was organised by the British Science Association, in partnership this year with the University of Surrey, SEEDA, Surrey County Council and Guildford Borough Council.
Key festival features included events which linked to: British Science Association President Lord May of Oxford
The British Science Festival, Europe's foremost celebration of science, engineering and technology was celebrated in Surrey this month with hundreds of events taking place at
• The national Darwin200 anniversary marking 200 years since the birth of Charles Darwin, with visitors encouraged to explore his scientific ideas and their impacts on us all
• The International Year of Astronomy 2009; and
• A family ‘hands-on’ science event a Big Science Read at selected Surrey libraries in the run up to the Festival. In the opening Presidential address ‘The Evolution of
Fellowship for York Scientist to Support Polymer Research
incorporating and confining liquid crystal order into small polymer beads will affect their physical properties.
Dr Görtz, who is a member of the Materials Chemistry Research Group at York, said:
“Small polymer beads, with sizes ranging from hundreds of nanometres to micrometres, find many applications which exploit the surface the particles provide. One example is surface modified beads that bind bio-molecules such as DNA, selectively. The liquid crystal polymer beads I develop are designed to change their optical properties in response to changes at the bead surface caused, for example, by a binding process, and resulting in a visible optical read-out.
Dr Verena Görtz
A University of York scientist has been awarded a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship for her research on smart polymer materials that could eventually be used as sensors to detect biological materials and pollutants.
Dr Verena Görtz, of the University’s Department of Chemistry, will use the funds provided by the Fellowship to develop her pioneering work which focuses on creating polymer beads with liquid crystal properties. She will be investigating how
“One of the fascinating prospects of my research is to develop effective sensors by exploiting both the elastic and surface properties of polymer beads and the optical properties of liquid crystals. This results in micron-sized materials that respond to a wide variety of changes in the environment, such as mechanical or electrical stimuli, changes in temperature, or external reactions.”
The Fellowship, which starts in October, provides research funding for four years. Born in Germany, Dr Görtz obtained her PhD from the University of Mainz in Germany and worked at the University of Hull before coming to York in 2005.
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Cooperation: Darwin’s unsolved problem and its relevance to environmental concerns’ Robert May, of Oxford University’s Zoology Department, highlighted the problems Darwin faced with the questions of evolution and origins of species which to a large extent have found answers through advances in science; he also pointed to the biggest question facing us today: evolution of cooperation as a necessary means of survival and how this will be vital to environmental issues such as global food and water supply.
The Festival also saw topics as diverse as sleeping to social networking discussed, dissected and debated by researchers, commentators and thousands of interested people from all over Surrey and across the UK. Families enjoyed Science about Town, hands-on science displays on Guildford High Street and had the chance of experiencing the magic of computer science and doing chemistry with cabbage.
The 2010 British Science Festival will be in Birmingham and proposals are now open. Find out more information and how to submit a proposal to run an event: British Science Festival 2010.
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Monoclonal Antibody Against Mouse Mast Cell Protease-1 Development
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have produced a monoclonal antibody to mouse Mast Cell Protease-1 (mMCP-1, MCPT1). Mast cell protease-1 is used widely as a specific marker of mast cell activation after an allergic response, response to parasites, a drug-induced anaphylactoid reaction, or a consequence of a pathological condition involving mast cells. This is said to be the only currently available monoclonal antibody to mMCP1. Current alternatives are either less specific polyclonal antibodies or a similar rat mast cell protease-2 antibody.
It is type IgG1 and has been tested in Western Blot, Immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence and ELISA.
Microgamme quantities of the ß-chymase mouse mast cell protease-1 (mMCPT-1) are released systematically and can be detected in peripheral blood during intestinal nematode infection and food allergy models.
The University of Edinburgh is seeking interest from commercial organisations to in-license this hybridoma to manufacture and sell the monoclonal antibody for research purposes.
For more details email:
Research.Innovation@
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Events
Water Catchments: New instrumentation technologies for research and regulation needs
London, 27 October
The global water cycle change is an important part of the global climate change which raises concerns about freshwater supply.
On the legislative side, the Water Framework Directive (WFD) will be the major driver for achieving sustainable management of water in the UK and other EU Member States for many years to come. To meet the requirements industry will have to develop methodologies of integrated catchment based consenting. These methodologies will obviously have to rely on advanced instrumentation for environmental monitoring.
Sensing and
instrumentation for environmental measurement will provide important enabling technologies for both academics and industrialists to solve the problems outlined above. The event will be organised by the Environmental KTN and the Sensors and Instrumentation KTN through their joint Environmental Measurement Special Interest Group (EMSIG). It will offer an excellent opportunity to engage with a wide range of businesses, regulators, research councils and academic institutions, as well as providing a solid foundation for the water related instrumentation roadmap.
If you are interested in attending, or contributing to the agenda, please contact Alex Efimov at
alex.efimov@sensorsktn.com or Tel: +44 (0)1223 422 406.
UK NanoForum showcases emerging technologies London, 3-4 November
With a focus on developing international trade, investment and collaboration opportunities for participants, UK NanoForum & Emerging Technologies 09 offers a platform for those serious about developing their international business. A joint event from UK Trade & Investment and the Nanotechnology Knowledge Transfer Network (NanoKTN) this two day conference and exhibition is to be held in London from 3 to 4 November 2009. In its fourth year, it is expected to bring over 100 overseas and 350 UK delegates together to network and identify potential business and collaboration opportunities.
This year’s event is ideal for businesses in the following areas: Nanomaterials and surfaces, Low carbon and clean energy, Life sciences and healthcare, Nanoelectronics and instrumentation, Emerging technologies including plastic electronics, and ultra- precision and structured surfaces, funding, safety, health and environment and collaboration mechanisms.
Visit
www.uknano.biz for more details.
Filtration Society Autumn meeting A one-day international technical meeting of the Filtration Society - Filter Media 4: Cost-effective solutions – is being held on Thursday 19 November 2009 in Chester, UK, to review the latest
developments in the field. Speakers from Northdoe Ltd, Camfil Farr, Freudenberg Vliesstoffe, Porvair, Bekaert, Hollingsworth and Vose, and Europlasma
will cover various aspects of filter media
development, from markets and trends through to the latest high performance low pressure drop glass media.
Dr Graham Rideal of Whitehouse Scientific is Science Correspondent for the Filtration Society: “In the two years since we last held a meeting on filter media there have been many developments for both gas and liquid applications,” he said. “The meeting will feature key elements including the role of design, recent products borne out of industrial R&D, and case studies exemplifying modern filter media technologies.”
The Filtration Society’s one-day meeting format, from which all delegates receive a bound set of notes, is proving highly successful, with attendee numbers growing year on year. This meeting is expected to be especially useful for process engineers, designers, technical and R&D personnel, research institutes and industry decision makers. A trade exhibition will run alongside the conference programme.
Attendance is open to both members and non-members of the Filtration Society. For more event details, rates and registration visit:
www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/cg/research/filtration/FilterMediaFl yer2009.pdf
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