Dr Chris Pudney (Biology & Biochemistry) is leading the ‘Bio-X’ project, bringing next generation physical sciences together with biology to make new advances in Health and the Bioeconomy. The project was awarded an Initiator grant of nearly £11,000 to scope and refine ideas and identify possible collaborators.
Groups led by Dr John Orr (Architecture & Civil Engineering) and Professor Johannes Zimmer (Mathematical Sciences) were awarded Accelerator grants of £62,000 and £73,500 respectively to support collaboration and maximise their research activities. Both projects follow on from previous Initiator grants.
John, who was recently awarded an EPSRC fellowship, is leading on work to change the way that structures are designed and operated by using big data to minimise their whole-life environmental, economic and social costs.
Johannes’ project brings together modellers and experimentalists from Maths and Engineering to look into nucleation: the formation of a structure by self‐organisation, for example, ice crystals in water. The ability to control this promises enormous benefits for both traditional engineering materials and new smart materials for memories, processors and displays.
The latest round of the GW4 Building Communities fund committed £450,000 to nine other projects, with Bath staff involved in all but one:
Initiator grants:
- Data Science
- Centre for Corporate Governance & Social Responsibility
- The GW4 Pay Equality Research Consortium
- Building a GW4 Clinical Academic Training Community
- GW4 Musculoskeletal Research Consortium
Accelerator grants:
- Dying with Reduced Agency: People, Places, Principles & Policies
- Harnessing CRISPR/Cas9 Technology to Develop New Models of Alzheimer's Disease
- Modern British Politics & Political History
Professor Jane Millar, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research), said: “I am delighted to see new research groups led by Bath coming through and receiving Initiator awards, at the same time as established groups grow and develop with the aid of Accelerator grants."