Bath Beacons was first launched in 2021, building on the success the University is supporting further multidisciplinary collaborative networks which will address the UKRI strategic themes outlined in their five year strategy.
The five new Bath Beacons which will be established from the start of the new academic year 2023/24 are:
Harm Reduction – led by Professor Chris Pudney, Life Sciences
The Beacon aims to build a national hub of excellence in harm reduction research and implementation, combining effective partnerships with stakeholders with new technology and research. The principle of our Beacon is simple; if we know what drugs are available and who is taking them, we can design effective interventions to prevent harm and death.
Managing Antimicrobial Resistance in a Changing World – led by Dr Maisem Laabei and Professor Ed Feil, Life Sciences
The vision is to identify specific challenges and knowledge gaps critical in the fight against Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) on global and regional levels. This Beacon provides an outstanding opportunity to formally establish a multidisciplinary community of researchers at Bath with intersecting expertise in AMR, by pooling our considerable and diverse research strengths - from fundamental evolutionary processes, epidemiological modelling, through drug discovery and delivery, and social science.
The Bath Universal Basic Income (UBI) Beacon – led by Neil Howard, Social and Policy Sciences
The aim of the Bath UBI Beacon is to consolidate and expand the critical mass of the university’s research and expertise around unconditional basic income and its intersections with vital contemporary public policy challenges. Our work will foster new, impactful collaborations across university departments, disciplines, and teams, as well as with external partners. Through the many strands of our work, we will be nationally and internationally recognised as the home of UK UBI and UBI-related scholarship.
Innovation Bridge – led by Professor Dimo Dimov, School of Management
This Beacon will enable cross-disciplinary research and foster an interdisciplinary community bringing together Bath scholars in promoting economic and social prosperity through research from different fields such as entrepreneurship, engineering, computer science, biosciences, artificial intelligence and psychology. This community will be working to prepare grant applications; Build integrated datasets to map entrepreneurial ecosystems and enable research that informs business, community, and public policy, and can be applied across sectors to address societal challenges.
Sport and Technology in a Digital Society – led by Dr Steffi Colyer, Professor Keith Stokes, Professor Eamonn O'Neill, Health and Computer Science
The Sport and Technology in a Digital Society Beacon will draw together research expertise from across campus to develop a world leading centre that will explore the intersection between sport, technology and society. We will investigate how advances in technology challenge the way we think about sport and physical activity, while creating new opportunities for enhancing elite performance, preventing injuries, creating more inclusive participation, and improving function and health.
Professor Sarah Hainsworth, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise, says:
We are delighted to announce the latest round of Bath Beacons, building on our work to tackle major global challenges that leads to real impact. It was fantastic to see such a strong response from our research community to this most recent call. The new Beacons will bring together interdisciplinary teams to develop innovative approaches to tackling these critical issues.
Launch event
There will be a Bath Beacons Teams Live Event to officially launch the five new Bath Beacons which is taking place from 12.15 on 2 October.
Contact Research Development with any queries: resdev@bath.ac.uk.