By Heather Hobbs
BRINGING YOU THE LATEST NEWS & EVENTS FROM THE SCIENCE INDUSTRY Call for Government to Commit to Horizon Europe
The Royal Society President Venki Ramakrishnan has called on the Government to end the uncertainty around the UK’s commitment to associating to the EU’s research programmes after Brexit. He voiced fears that with just over six months to go until Brexit, researchers will start leaving the UK amid uncertainty around ability to access the unique collaborations, networks and funds from the EU’s €95 billion funding stream.
“Science is global and in six months we could be cutting a vital link between UK and European scientists. That would be a serious error of judgement that would do harm to UK science, our economy and ultimately the public,” Venki Ramakrishnan said.
“This is a Government that has shown a great commitment to science and the role it can play in creating jobs and rebuilding the economy. Yet we have only had kind words when it comes to future scientific cooperation with the EU. It is now time to back up those kind words with a firm financial commitment to show we remain an outward facing country.”
Calling for the financial commitment of £2 billion a year as a show of faith for science, The Royal Society has outlined in a letter to Rishi Sunak and Michael Gove that;
UK regions, as well as growth and export opportunities for UK businesses
• Europe is by some distance the UK’s biggest and fastest growing scientific collaborator. Just over a third of UK research papers are co-authored with researchers in EU and associated countries
• The UK is leading one in five European Research Council funded projects related to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Uncertainty raises the prospect of a multi-million pound funding gap emerging at the end of the year and the resulting loss of active research groups, networks and partnerships.
Royal Society President Venki Ramakrishnan
• Collaboration through the EU Framework Programmes has led to advances in medicine and public heath, cleaner energy, environment and transport innovations, the creation of jobs in
A firm financial commitment “will give much needed confidence to scientists that the Government is committed to negotiating an agreement on Horizon Europe and also has a back-up plan in the event of delays or no eventual agreement. Critically, it will help avert major disruption to our science capability in six to 12 months when the UK will most need its researchers in COVID-19 mitigation and recovery efforts,” Mr Ramakrishnan added.
52482pr@reply-direct.com
Prize Highlights Potential Threat of Microglia Cells
resident immune cells, microglia and their possible role in furthering diseases like Alzheimer’s.
In healthy brains microglia act to remove waste produced normally in the brain as well as the toxic proteins that build-up in Alzheimer’s and other diseases. Dr Lloyd’s research paper shows that for the brain to recover from damage, overactive microglia need to die so that more helpful microglia can move in and carry out their job; if the process of microglia death goes wrong, it leads to harmful levels of brain inflammation and contributes to diseases that cause dementia.
The brain’s immune system is seen as the new frontier in tackling neurodegenerative diseases and this process is now being explored as a treatment option for diseases like multiple sclerosis.
“The brain’s immune system is complex, with microglia acting as both a critical defence mechanism and a key driver of damage to the brain,” said Dr Lloyd. “With the state-of-the-art facilities here in Dundee I have the chance to thoroughly investigate microglia and better understand how they contribute to diseases like Alzheimer’s.
“Winning the Jean Corsan prize is the highlight of my career so far. As soon as I heard I rang my mum! It’s an honour to receive this award by Alzheimer’s Research UK.”
Amy Lloyd
Leading dementia research charity Alzheimer’s Research UK has awarded Dr Amy Lloyd from the University of Dundee the Jean Corsan prize for the best scientific paper by an early-career researcher. She will receive a £2,000 personal prize, supported by the Jean Corsan Foundation, for her pioneering research into the brain’s
Dr Carol Routledge, Director of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK said: “Making new breakthroughs in understanding the complex causes of diseases that cause dementia requires dedication and innovative thinking. It’s great that we have young, inspiring researchers in Scotland working on getting us one step closer to changing people’s lives. We congratulate Dr Lloyd on her well-deserved win.”
52335pr@reply-direct.com
UK Robotics Week adds Contagious Disease Challenge
A major new Medical Robotics for Contagious Diseases Challenge has been added to this year’s annual UK Robotics Week programme, and is open to leading robotics research teams from across the world with innovative ideas that could offer solutions to the current COVID-19 health crisis and future global pandemics.
The competition, run as part of the EPSRC UK Robotics & Autonomous Systems (UK-RAS) Network’s annual celebrations – will take place entirely online, with flexibility for remote working. Teams will be competing for a prize fund of £15,000, offered by the Challenge’s generous sponsors Intuitive Surgical, The Wellcome Trust and Imperial College London. Challenge finalists will have the opportunity to present their ideas to a prestigious and highly experienced international judging panel.
Professor Robert Richardson, Chair of the EPSRC UK- RAS Network said: “The global community is facing an unprecedented challenge as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. What we are seeing is that now, more than ever, medical robotics and robotics platforms have a key role to play in the response to COVID-19 and in tackling future pandemics – from robots disinfecting hospitals to delivering vital supplies, supporting testing, infection control and performing surgery. The COVID-19 pandemic offers a unique opportunity to galvanise medical robot technologies and we hope this challenge will offer an opportunity to celebrate current work in development that seek to offer solutions as part of a multi-faceted response to this and future global pandemics.”
Applicants are asked to submit a 2-minute preview video by 30th September 2020 and entries will be reviewed and accepted by 14th October 2020. The final 2-minute preview video, presentation and two-page paper will need to be submitted by 28th October 2020 and finalist teams will be invited to give an online presentation and take part in a videoconference interview with the judging team on 6th November 2020.
Further details on
www.uk-ras.org 52221pr@reply-direct.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
