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News 2010 |
Sensor Technology to Improve Infant Healthcare
Around 70,000 babies receive resuscitation at birth each year in the UK to ensure their tiny hearts are beating fast enough to supply oxygen to their brain and vital organs. Typically, doctors use stethoscopes to measure the babies’ heart rates. But this cannot continually monitor a baby’s condition and resuscitation has to be suspended momentarily while doctors mentally count the beats.
The sensor device allows clinicians to continue with resuscitation without interruption and so save valuable seconds in the important first stages of life. The device will give clinicians an early warning of any unexpected or rapid change in a baby’s condition so they can intervene more rapidly.
The sensor deploys a low power light source that illuminates the skin. A corresponding detector measures how much light is absorbed and reflected back. The amount of light absorbed varies with the changing volume of blood under the skin as the heart beats. The sensor sends signals back to a small computer that continuously monitors both the heart and breathing rates.
| For more information, please click here | 19/07/10 |
European Food Safety Authority Call Launch
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched a call to renew the membership of the Panel on food additives and nutrient sources added to food (ANS) and the Panel on food contact materials, enzymes, flavourings and processing aids (CEF), and to expand the reserve list of its Scientific Committee and its other 8 Scientific Panels.
The call closes on 15 September 2010.
EFSA is inviting applications from highly qualified scientists from Europe and beyond, with expertise in a wide range of scientific fields such as food additives and nutrient sources, food contact materials, flavourings, toxicology, contaminants in the food chain, biological hazards, GMOs, feedstuffs, plant health and plant protection products, animal health and welfare, dietetic products, allergies, novel foods and nutrition. Applicants should demonstrate experience in carrying out scientific risk assessment and have proven scientific excellence in one, or preferably several, of the fields in EFSA's remit.
| For more information, please click here | 12/07/10 |
Chelsea Technologies Group expands Lux fluorimeter product range
Following on from the successful launch of the Lux range of miniature high performance fluorimeters, Chelsea Technologies Group announces the launch of a range of accessories to complement these fluorimeters.
Headlining is the Roamer wireless data link which gives the user freedom in the field to make high precision measurements anywhere, anytime. The Roamer provides power to the fluorimeter and wirelessly transmits data for viewing and storage on a PDA. Data can also be stamped with GPS protection data.
Other new accessories include Shade Caps, Flow Through Chambers, Calibration Cells, Mechanical Wipers and a USB Interface Dongle for direct connection to a PC.
Over 120 fluorimeters are now in the field with users reporting excellent datasets. Applications include in-situ chlorophyll-a & algae class studies, environmental monitoring, dye tracing, particulate studies, cell culture monitoring and process control.
| For more information, please click here | 16/06/10 |
The Future Requirements for Oceanographic Instrumentation
Richard Burt, Sales & Marketing Director, Chelsea Technologies Group addressed the Fifth Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Global Conference on Oceans, Coasts and Islands on the future of oceanographic sensors and technology and shard his vision of future developments.
In a session to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the IOC, Richard outlined that oceanographic instrumentation has traditionally been developed within academic centres of excellence in order to provide answers to challenging scientific questions. There are many examples of industry working with scientists to commercialize these technologies and make them available on a global scale, such as the chelsea AQUA shuttle and SeaSoar towed oceanographic vehicles.
Richard went on to say that environmental sensors can be categorized as measuring physical, chemical or biological properties. Physical sensor technologies are the most mature, with well-established field-deployable sensors for a number of oceanographic parameters such as temperature, pressure, salinity, light and turbidity. However, there exists only limited capabilities for field-deployable chemical sensors (e.g., dissolved oxygen, pH, redox state) and biological sensors to provide key information on the production, structure, and composition of biologically influenced ecosystems in real time.
| For more information, please click here | 16/06/10 |
The Impact of RDA Budget Cuts
England’s RDA network (outside of London) has been asked to make savings of £270 million in their investment programmes in this financial year, as part of the coalition Government’s priority of cutting the budget deficit and reforming public services
How those savings will affect individual regions is still under consideration, but for South West England this will mean at least a £23 million reduction in the money available for projects in the region. This will inevitably impact on businesses and communities.
All the RDAs are currently reviewing their funding commitments and will be discussing the implications and the next steps with BIS (the Department for Business, Skills and Innovation). Recent comments from the Secretary of State for Business – Vince Cable – indicate that the level of cuts will be deeper in the South and East of England, which is likely to include the South West, as the North and West Midlands are to be ‘relatively protected’ from the cuts this year.
Jane Henderson, chief executive of the South West RDA, has pledged that the RDA will make the strongest possible case for protecting key investments and levels of support in the region.
| For more information, please click here | 14/06/10 |
Nuclear R&D feasibility studies
The Technology Strategy Board is investing up to £2m in feasibility studies to stimulate innovation and strengthen the supply chain in the area of nuclear R&D and its applications.
This competition encourages businesses not currently working in the nuclear sector to explore the opportunities that the predicted global civil nuclear resurgence presents.
In addition, it will allow the existing supply chain to engage with innovative technology providers and explore opportunities for growth.
We will be giving priority to applications that are led by SMEs (or have their strong involvement) working with larger organisations already operating in the nuclear supply chain or those that anticipate
doing so. This will probably involve building consortia who have not worked together before.
Funding will be invested in feasibility studies which cover the evaluation of innovative technologies, their applications and technology transfer that could lead to their future development and application in civil nuclear plants and develop business opportunities in this growing area.
| To read more about the competition, please click here | 20/05/10 |
Nursing Times Product Awards 2010
The entry deadline is 25 June 2010
D4D (Devices for Dignity Healthcare Technology Co-operative, one of two pilot Department of Health programmes) is working with the Nursing Times to launch the inaugural Nursing Times Product Awards 2010.
The awards have been set up to recognise and reward the products that are transforming patient care and helping healthcare professionals work efficiently.
Every day thousands of nurses use your products. They depend on those products to meet the needs of their patients. What they think and say about them matters. The new Nursing Times Product Awards will provide a high profile focus for nurses’ views and experience.
- Do you want your products to benefit from nurses’ seal of approval?
- Do you want to benefit from the commercial edge that national endorsement by nurses would provide?
- Do you want your company’s contribution to patient care to be recognised by an award scheme in which the views of nurses are centre stage?
Judged by nurse experts and promoted to nurses, The Nursing Times Product Awards provide a unique vehicle for you to reach the people who depend on your product to care for patients. Enter now and ensure your products get the recognition they deserve.
| To read more about the competition, please click here | 20/05/10 |
EUREKA'S Eurostars Programme
Getting your innovation to the market.Faster
September 2010 Call
A Eurostars project is a European research and development project. It can address any technological area, but must have a civilian purpose and be aimed at the development of a new product, process or service. A Eurostars project is collaborative, meaning it must involve at least two participants (legal entities) from two different Eurostars participating countries. In addition, the main participant must be a research-performing SME from one of these countries.
The role of the SME participants in the project should be significant. At least 50% of the project's core activity should be carried out by SMEs. This percentage can, however, include minor contracting. The consortium should be well balanced, which means that no participant or country will be required to invest more than 75% of the total project costs.
A Eurostars project should be market-driven: it must have a maximum duration of three years, and within two years of project completion, the product of the research should be ready for launch onto the market. The exception to this rule applies to biomedical or medical projects, where clinical trials must be started within two years of project completion.
| To read more about the competition, please click here | 23/04/10 |
Regenerative Medicine Programme
Tools and Technologies Feasibility Studies
MARCH 2010 COMPETITION FOR FUNDING
As part of a £21.5m programme in Regenerative Medicine, the Technology Strategy Board is to invest up to £2m in collaborative research and development feasibility projects in the area of regenerative medicine tools and technologies. Our aim is to help establish projects and future collaborations that will participate in larger initiatives in regenerative medicine to be run jointly in 2011 by the Technology Strategy Board, the Medical Research Council (MRC), the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Projects must be collaborative and led by a business, and proposals must clearly state the benefits to business. Project outputs must be either a technology or an application demonstrator, to be presented in a report and a formal presentation. Total project costs must not exceed £200k, with feasibility studies being funded up to 75% of project costs.
The competition opens on 8 March 2010. Successful projects are expected to start in July 2010 and must be completed by 31 March 2011
| To apply for the competition, please click here | 20/04/10 |
National Instruments offers helping hand to SMEs
A grant programme designed to help small firms in the growing embedded devices sector has been launched by National Instruments in the UK.
The firm, which has been offering low cost training and certification to unemployed scientists and engineers since last year has now expanded the scheme to include small and medium sized companies developing embedded devices in areas such as medical, energy and green engineering who will be offered grants for software, support and training.
NI stated in a press release that the programme has been launched in recognition of the fact that many innovative advances in technology over the past 20 years have been developed by small, entrepreneurial companies. The new programme will award up to £25,000 in software, support and training to selected SMEs that are evaluating the NI platform as a component of their devices.
The goal of the new grant programme is to help these companies reduce the cost and complexity of development by providing them with technology such as the National Instruments LabVIEW graphical programming environment.
| To apply for the programme visit National Instruments website | 20/04/10 |
Crop Improvement Research and Technology Club (CIRC)
A£6M, 5-year partnership between BBSRC, The Scottish Government and a consortium of leading companies, aimed at supporting innovative and excellent research to underpin the development of improved crop varieties that deliver increased productivity and consistent, high quality end products.
Its themes are:
- To support research leading to improved crop productivity
Sustainable improvements in crop productivity are important for increasing the volume of food the UK can produce, for limiting the land needed to produce this food and for improving the efficiency with which resources are used in crop production - To support research leading to improved crop quality
Improving quality can help to improve the processing, safety and nutritional value of crop products whilst also improving resource use efficiency. By understanding quality traits better there will also be scope for generating greater consistency in quality against a background of variation in growing conditions
CIRC will focus on oilseed rape, barley and wheat and their uses in food production for humans and animals.
| For more information, please click here | 09/03/10 |
Zero Waste Solution for NHS Trusts - opportunities for innovative approaches
The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust launches 'Market Sounding' in partnership with the Departments of Health (DH) and Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) regarding the supply of an innovative Zero Waste Solution.
Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an innovative approach to managing its waste and to this end has published a notification in the EU Official Journal (OJEU) of a market sounding exercise relating to an ‘unmet need’ for an innovative Zero Waste Solution and is seeking feedback from the supply chain.
This market sounding exercise provides on opportunity for potential suppliers to shape the procurement strategy and specification ahead of the formal procurement – which is expected to begin in late summer 2010.
The closing date for responses is the 11 April 2010
| For more information see the Market Sounding Prospectusclick here | 09/03/10 |
NHS Regional Innovation Fund open for applications
The NHS Regional Innovation Fund, supporting frontline NHS staff to innovate and providing immediate support to key innovations needing financial support, is open for applications.
Anyone from the NHS can apply but partnerships between the NHS and other organisations are also welcomed, as long as the lead applicant is an NHS employee or organisation.
There are two funds. A small fund with a total fund size of £250k is available, which will accept bids of up to £15k per application. A large fund is also available with a total value of £1m, which will accept bids of up to £250k per application.
The large funds will only go to projects in the top ten themes in the region:
- Reducing procedures of limited clinical benefit
- Optimising urgent care pathways
- Adopting best-practice care pathways for Long Term Conditions (LTC)
- Shifting settings of care
- Improving prescribing
- Addressing variability in primary care and community care
- Improving mental health and learning difficulties
- Reducing lengths of stay
- Supply chain optimisation and back office productivity
- Estates optimisation
The small funds are more flexible. The main under-current is the need to show diffusion and adoption of innovations.
The deadline for applications to the small fund is 28th February and the deadline for applications to the large fund is 8th March.
| For more information, please click here | 18/02/10 |
Life Sciences Super Cluster Announced as Support for Life Sciences is Bolstered
Today the Government announced plans for a new UK Life Sciences Super Cluster, supported by £1 million of Government investment. Bringing together industry, academia and the NHS, it will help deliver the next generation of medicines and technologies needed to support people suffering from chronic diseases.
At its heart will be the creation of Therapeutic Capability Clusters. These will be one-stop-shops for the UK’s top research in specific fields. They will bring together academic and NHS centres of excellence, which will work with industry to harness the UK’s expert capabilities and work on early stage clinical development and experimental medicine.
The new Life Sciences Super Cluster will be kick-started later this year with a pilot in immunology and inflammation focussing on disease areas such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.
| For more information, please click here | 18/02/10 |
IBST and Malaysia partnership visit, January 2010
A recent visit by a research team from the Institute for Bio Sensing Technology (IBST) at the University of the West of England to Malaysia has lead to further collaborations with universities and industry contacts in the country.
The visit took place in late January and included representatives from UWE and the Urological Institute at Southmead Hospital at the invitation of the Malaysian Royal High Commission.
Professor Richard Luxton, Director of IBST, said, “We met with representatives at the United Nations University in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian Bio-Diagnostic Research Unit, the Clinical Research Centre at the Malaysian Minstry of Health, the University of Malaya, University of Kebrangsaan Malaysia.
“The meetings consolidated research collaborations with our colleagues in Malaysia. There are several areas of complimentary research work that we have already established including investigations into the ethnic diversity of prostate cancer in Caucasian and Asian populations; rapid detection models for dengue fever and analysis of kidney stones formation and pathogenesis.
“We have taken our relationships a step further with the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Clinical Research Centre with the Malaysia Ministry of Health and a commitment to deliver a programme of collaborative research with the University of Malaya. We are very grateful to the support we received from the British High Commission and the Science and Innovation Network and Ching Lee Heong from the Science and Innovation Network at the British High Commission, for making this visit possible.
Mr David Gillatt, consultant surgeon and specialist ij urological cancers, emphasised, “ These collaborations revive the tradition of knowledge exchange between the Bristol Urological Institute and the University of Malaya, and we are very pleased to have been able to build on this relationship in partnership with UWE”.
Steve West UWE Vice Chancellor said, “IBST at UWE and the Urological Institute at Southmead Hostpital have an important ongoing research partnership and we are delighted with the outcomes of meetings in Malaysia. We look forward to extending our welcome to Malaysian collaborators and partners as we work together on developing diagnostic tests for cancers and investigations into dengue fever. ”
The IBST, UWE delegation to Malaysia included Professor Richard Luxton, Dr Janice Keily and Dr Olena Doran and representatives from the Bristol Urologial Institute included Dr David Gillatt, Adele Long and Jo Worthington.
Call for Strategic longer and larger grants (LoLas) launched
The 2010 call for strategic longer and larger grants (LoLas) has just been launched and the application deadline is 10 March 2010.
Strategic LoLas are available to support research projects requiring longer timescales, extensive resources, or multidisciplinary approaches. Applications must be over £2M (FEC project value) and up to five years in duration. All applications must address BBSRC's strategic priority areas
Requirements
Research funded through a strategic LoLa must:
- Be scientifically excellent
- Address at least 1 of our strategic priorities
- Demonstrate impact
- Be conducted by an internationally leading research team
All proposals must be within our scientific remit . If in doubt please contact us before submitting a proposal.
There will be an annual call for Strategic LoLa proposals
| For more information, please click here | 10/02/10 |
BBSRC heralds 'Age of Bioscience' with launch of new strategic plan
BBSRC has outlined the strategic framework that will shape its direction and funding decisions for the next five years. Many of the challenges facing society have their potential solutions in biological science, making the 21st Century the 'Age of Bioscience'. In its Strategic Plan for 2010-2015, BBSRC details how it will support UK bioscience to meet these challenges and the opportunities for bioscience to benefit society and the UK economy.
In a webcast launching the new Plan, streamed on the BBSRC website, Prof Douglas Kell, BBSRC Chief Executive, outlined the main features of the plan including a commitment to fund excellent UK bioscience and skills across the BBSRC remit and the three strategic research priorities - food security, bioenergy and industrial biotechnology.
| The new Strategic Plan can be downloaded from webpage | 10/02/10 |
European Institute of Innovation and 
Technology (EIT) has announced its first three Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs)
KICs are highly integrated partnerships, bringing together excellent higher education, research and business around the topics of climate change mitigation and adaptation (‘Climate-KIC’), sustainable energy (‘KIC InnoEnergy’) and the future information and communication society (‘EIT ICT Labs’) respectively. The launch of the KICs marks a crucial step in setting up the EIT, which is designed to become a role model for boosting innovation in Europe and thereby contributing to the goals of the future EU 2020 strategy.
The selected KICs have been chosen from among 20 proposals received in answer to the EIT's first call for KICs. The call, which was open from 2 April to 27 August 2009, had been launched in three priority areas: sustainable energy, climate change mitigation and adaptation as well as future information and communication society.
In order to facilitate a rapid and smooth start, the EIT will immediately equip the KICs with a start-up grant of a total amount of 3 million Euro. The KICs are expected to become fully operational shortly after having signed a seven-year Framework Partnership Agreement with the EIT and after confirmation of the first annual grant agreements towards mid-2010
| For more information, please click here | 20/01/10 |
Interpretation of Sensors & Instrumentation relevance for the “New Approaches to Crop Protection” January 2010 CR&D competition
Competition opens 18th January 2010
This £13m collaborative R&D call presents a clear opportunity for sensors and instrumentation technology to inform crop production and protection. It also includes some areas of focus that may require sensors or instrumentation capabilities, thus creating further opportunities for organisations in our community to participate in project consortia. It will therefore be of great interest to those either already developing technologies for crop protection or those with ideas of translating their sensing technology to these applications. This note summarises the call opportunities and criteria and provides some possible examples to help promote broader thinking on the topic.
| For more information, please click here | 20/01/10 |
BBSRC to launch 2010-2015 Strategic Plan
BBSRC will be launching its new 5-year strategic plan on Thursday 28 January with a webcast from Chief Executive Prof Douglas Kell. To watch the webcast and to see the premiere of a new film explaining the vision for BBSRC science please visit: www.bbsrc.ac.uk/strategy from 10am on 28 January 2010.
The strategic plan for 2010-2015 will set out BBSRC’s leading high-level priorities and aspirations over the next 5 years, as well as some of the underlying principles upon which we will base our future funding decisions.
| For more information, please click here | 14/01/10 |
BBSRC welcomes food research strategy
BBSRC, the UK's largest funder of agriculture and food related research, has welcomed and pledged its support for the new science research strategy to help improve the security and sustainability of our food system launched by the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser Professor John Beddington.
The Food and Innovation Research Strategy provides, for the first time, an overarching framework across the UK Government and Devolved Administrations. It sets out current and future programmes and highlights some past successes, good practice and where joint working is already strong, both on research projects and cross-cutting issues.
| To view the strategy please, click here | 14/01/10 |
Axis-Shield Granted US Patent for Active-B12 TEST
Axis-Shield (LSE:ASD, OSE:ASD), the international in vitro diagnostics company, announced that is has been granted a US patent for its technology governing the specific detection of Active-B12, or holo-transcobalamin (holoTC), as a more effective way of determining vitamin B12 deficiency. The newly granted patent lasts until 2024.
HoloTC is the biologically available form of vitamin B12. In this specific form it is transported to body tissues and absorbed by cells. Deficiency of vitamin B12 is now a major problem, particularly in elderly populations where the availability of the binding protein Intrinsic Factor, needed in the absorption of this important vitamin, has often been compromised by long-term use of drugs affecting gastric acidity. Vitamin B12 plays an important role in creating red blood cells and keeping the nervous system healthy. It is also needed to absorb folic acid and helps to release energy. Vitamin B12 deficiency should be suspected in all patients with unexplained anaemia and/or neurological symptoms. The elderly, neuropsychiatric and psychiatric patients, and those adhering to a vegetarian diet, are amongst the groups at risk.
| For more information, please click here | 14/01/10 |
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