Imperial College London Creates new Chinese R&D Opportunities


Imperial is already working with Chinese partners to advance research and its application in nanotechnology, bioengineering, computing, data science, advanced materials, offshore energy, environmental engineering and entrepreneurship. Partners include leading businesses Huawei and AVIC, as well as scientific institutions such as Tsinghua, Zhejiang, Shanghai Jiao Tong, Wuhan, Hong Kong and Peking Universities, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. At present (2013-14) 2,011 Imperial students - 14% - come from China, as do more than 5,000 of the College’s alumni.


Professor Yike Guo, Director of the Data Science Institute, Imperial College was amongst academics who joined Sir Keith O’Nions in China.


Following Premier Li Keqiang’s recent visit to the UK, Sir Keith O’Nions President of Imperial College London led a delegation to China to promote innovation and education ties between the two countries and also discuss co-location opportunities in London to commercialise cutting-edge research. ICL is working to intensify Chinese involvement with Imperial West: a 25 acre £3 billion (CN¥ 32 billion) new innovation district in west London, well-connected to the capital’s TechCity and MedCity ecosystems.


BIA wins ‘Conference of the Year’ Trade Association Forum Award


The BioIndustry Association (BIA) won the prestigious 2014 Trade Association Forum (TAF) Conference of the Year award for its hugely successful UK Bioscience Forum. The result was announced on 10 July at the TAF Awards and Networking Dinner in Liverpool.


The awards recognise excellence and best practice amongst professional Trade Associations in the UK. It is the second time that BIA has received the Award, with the association also attaining finalist status in the Sector Representation of the Year category.


The judges felt BIA had delivered an outstanding CPD-certified conference with over 60 speakers throughout the day including Boris Johnson, Mayor of London as opening keynote, excellent panel sessions, a busy trade exhibition, innovative speed- partnering and unrivalled networking opportunities with 100% of attendees scoring the conference as excellent value for money.


Receiving the award Karen Chandler-Smith, Director of Business Development and Membership Services, BIA said:


“We are delighted to have won the TAF Conference of the Year award and to be finalists in all the award categories we entered. Winning this award for the second time is a true testament to the hard work of our dedicated team delivering industry-leading conferences and events, and reflects the BIA’s strong networks and in depth sector expertise. I would like to really thank the BIA team, our 2014 BIA supporters GE Healthcare, OAMPS Insurance Brokers and PALL Lifesciences, all our other event supporters and our members for their continued support for our events programme.


“I look forward to seeing everyone at the 2014 UK Bioscience Forum, taking place this year during European Biotech week on 7 October at the Royal College of Surgeons in central London, where we will also celebrate the BIA leading 25 years of bioscience excellence.”


31040pr@reply-direct.com UK Twinned-City conference


The University of Nottingham welcomed visitors from education, local authorities and businesses from cities including Liverpool, Manchester, Cambridge, Birmingham, and Leeds to the first recently- held UK-China twinned cities conference. There are currently 52 established twin city partnerships between the two countries.


The conference theme was based on the findings of ‘The UK-China Twinned Cities,’ a report commissioned by the Chinese Liberal Democrats in which the author’s highlighted the need for political will and leadership from local authorities, combined with investment


Events held in Hong Kong, Hangzhou and Beijing included a major two-day Big Data conference with Zhejiang University (ZJU); the launch of a joint Imperial-ZJU data science lab, which will allow some of the UK and China’s finest data scientists to co-locate in London; the first ever Imperial graduation ceremony in China, as Professor Chen Zhu, vice- chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and former Health Minister, receives an honorary doctorate at the British Embassy in Beijing and meetings with leading Tsinghua University academics to explore further collaborations in healthcare, Big Data, and entrepreneurship and innovation.


Sir Keith O’Nions, President of Imperial College London, said:


“China is fast becoming one of the world’s most important collaborators in innovation, scientific discovery and


Sir Keith O’Nions during ICL’s visit to China


commercial application. Anyone serious about the future of science, engineering, medicine and business is embracing Chinese partnerships - and we are excited to strengthen our long-standing ties with the country through Imperial West.


“At Imperial West we will work with Chinese and other international partners to create value from ideas on a global scale. As our vision for this innovation district becomes reality, the UK, China and the wider world will benefit.”


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Nottingham Hosts First UK-China Twinned Cities Conference


from businesses and assistance from the local Chinese community in order for twinning to be successful. Information was drawn from case studies of the Nottingham –Ningbo, Liverpool-Shanghai, Manchester- Wuhan and Sheffield-Chengdu partnerships.


Professor Chris Rudd, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of The University of Nottingham said: “I think that the twinning arrangement between Nottingham and Ningbo has worked well because of the numerous links that have been established between the two cities, by our universities and colleges, the City Council, businesses and the wider community. This means that there are very strong roots between both cities in many areas and at various levels, providing a basis for a long- term and successful twinning relationship.”


The conference was organised by the University’s Asia Business Centre and the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies. For more details about the UK-China Twinned Cities Conference, or on establishing links contact the Asia Business Centre at The University of Nottingham on +44 (0)115 748 4135, or email asiabusiness@nottingham.ac.uk


31041pr@reply-direct.com OGT Awarded Contract to Develop NGS Software


Oxford Gene Technology (OGT) has been awarded a £200K phase one development contract by the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) healthcare competition to develop whole genome Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) analysis software to increase the accuracy, and enhance the analysis of genomic sequence data. This landmark project has the potential to accelerate the diagnosis of cancer and rare diseases, ultimately supporting patient care and research.


The SBRI is a collaboration between the UK Department of Health and Genomics England Ltd. The initiative operates a competition for funding designed to support the development of innovative technologies that address the requirements of the 100K Genome Project. This includes bioinformatics and analysis algorithms, through to the development of new commercial products for genomic screening and stratified medicine. The contracts are awarded in two phases; the first enables companies to demonstrate the technical feasibility of their product and if successful, they are eligible for a second phase of funding to develop and test the product further.


OGT has considerable experience gained in the design and development of software for microarray and NGS data interpretation and will apply this knowledge to develop a clinician-friendly interpretation package for whole genome scale genetic variant data, said the company.


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