EPSRC

We’re pleased to support UK researchers to work with a range of partners in Japan to drive progress. These collaborations are backed by funding from BBSRC, EPSRC and Medical Research Council, and the investment of more than £13 million will build on the strong foundations of our work with Japan so far. 2024 marks 30 years since the Japan-UK Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement, which called for a greater research collaboration between the UK and Japan. This latest funding aims to tackle some of the world’s most pressing and complex challenges by supporting the emergence, development and exploitation of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), engineering biology and semiconductors. The projects are all supported by the International Science Partnership Fund, which supports UK researchers and innovators to collaborate with their peers around the world on the major challenges of our time. UKRI Chief Executive Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser said: “International collaboration in research and innovation is essential in a rapidly-changing world, to make the most of the opportunities ahead and to increase the security, prosperity and resilience of societies across the globe. “Our strong partnership with Japan exemplifies this ambition, combining excellent research and innovation across disciplines and sectors with leadership in new and emerging technologies.” Visit our website for more details on the collaborations.

An innovative new saliva test can quickly identify paracetamol overdose. Paracetamol is the most consumed medicine and its accessibility contributes to frequent misuse and overdose. Researchers have developed a technique that can test a tiny drop of saliva on a piece of paper for levels of paracetamol. Called paper-arrow mass spectrometry (PA-MS), the technique was found to provide better analytical performance than current clinical tests. It also requires less time, resources and clinical involvement. The research team, led by the University of Liverpool, tested the technique using both saliva and plasma samples from volunteers who had ingested paracetamol. Saliva was found to be the preferred sample method. Approximately 100,000 cases of paracetamol overdose are reported in the UK each year, leading to 50,000 hospital admissions due to liver toxicity. If not treated quickly, paracetamol overdoses can lead to outcomes such as liver failure, transplantation or even death. The research is in collaboration with Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and was supported by EPSRC. Find out more in the news section of our website.

Hello hoping many of you can join myself and EPSRC senior leaders tomorrow (10th December) 10am to hear our reflections on a busy year and share our priorities for 2025. This is the sign up link -> https://lnkd.in/eSGN9-Ff EPSRC, Andrew Bourne, Kedar Pandya, Jane Nicholson, Jonathan Dawes, Nicola G.

I've written a little think piece on the value of discovery following today's discovery research announcements by EPSRC. Its been a pleasure to have been a part of making these awards a reality. https://lnkd.in/eKxH3dBU

We’re excited to announce an £80million investment in 100 new discovery science projects. They include: 🔷 improving the sense of touch in prosthetic arms, and the quality of life for the 2 million upper-limb amputees worldwide 🔷 creating new ‘biomarker’ tools to measure blood clot formation and breakdown in the same blood test, reducing burden on the NHS 🔷 developing camera-based technology for British Sign Language recognition and translation for devices like Alexa to protect personal privacy and make tools more inclusive 🔷 designing better school outdoor spaces for children to improve thermal comfort and heat health   Discovery science is the bedrock of innovation, leading to major breakthroughs from fast-track vaccines to lithium-ion batteries that power everyday technologies across the world.   Through supporting these diverse topics and teams, we will enhance this capability across the UK, fostering the best ideas, discoveries, and innovations in emerging areas of engineering and physical sciences.   Hear from our Executive Chair Professor Charlotte Deane below 👇

Hugely exciting day at the second day of the APRIL Hub Summit. Heard so much about the plans of the hub to bring AI into the semiconductor sector, how they plan to work across the UK and globally, and the potential of these tools for growth. Also got to sit on an excellent panel to discuss the landscape, with panellists from DSTL and the Royal Academy and chaired by Prof. Máire O'Neill.   The first day brought academics and industry together to share their challenges and participate in speed networking that will be a platform for APRIL to discuss how AI research can transform electronics materials, design, verification and testing.   Unashamed Personal highlight - In addition to the summit, Themis Prodromakis and his fantastic team have worked with the extremely talented Ramya Julian to create a book for very very early career researchers! A children's (though will say I also very much enjoyed it) picture story book about the mission of the hub, teamwork, creativity and imagination with an inspiring message "If you have even a bit of imagination, you can create anything. Make any innovation!". "APRIL and the Tower of Techport" is very thoughtful and beautifully illustrated with inclusive dyslexia-friendly text. I understand the hub is distributing to local schools, but also have spare copies! Please contact APRIL Hub for copies of this book for those young researchers in your network!   #APRILAIHUBSUMMIT #EPSRC 

The ICT theme at the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) would like your input in filling out our Creative Industries Online Survey. Are you involved in the research and development of novel digital technologies that could be used within the Creative Industries sector? Are you involved in the design of creative content or using novel digital technologies within the Creative Industries? If yes to either of the above, we’d be grateful if you could please take some time (about 15 mins) to fill out our brief survey to help EPSRC to better understand the relationship between the EPSRC research community and the Creative Industries sector. Your input will support EPSRC in future planning in this area, potentially in collaboration with other councils. Please share with your academic and industrial networks. The online survey closes on 24 January 2025. For more information: https://lnkd.in/e632ZkcU

We are delighted to officially launch QEPNT to support national security and critical infrastructure. The new quantum technology hub, which will ensure the UK benefits from resilient position, navigation and timing advancements, has been launched at the The Royal Society. In the UK, many critical sectors and industries such as energy, finance, communications and transport depend on the reliability and accuracy of the signals from global positioning (GPS) satellites. However, GPS signals are easily disrupted by interference or deliberate malicious actions like signal jamming, causing an estimated economic loss of a billion pounds a day to the UK economy. The QEPNT - UK Hub for Quantum Enabled Position, Navigation & Timing, led by the University of Glasgow, will address these challenges by creating high performance, low size and low-cost quantum technologies. Tom Newby, Head of the UK Office for Quantum Technologies in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, officially launched the Hub at the event on 27 November. He said, “The new Quantum Hubs in the UK will see cutting edge research improve everyday lives.  In particular, the QEPNT Hub hopes to support critical infrastructure safe from hostile threats. I’m delighted QEPNT is progressing the UK’s commitment and mission to develop quantum navigation systems to provide next-generation accuracy for resilience, independent of satellite systems.” QEPNT is one of five quantum hubs launched by UK Research and Innovation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), with a £106 million investment from EPSRC, the UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BBSRC, UKRI Medical Research Council, and the NIHR (National Institute for Health and Care Research). The Hub, funded as part of the UK National Quantum Technology Programme, will be led by world-leading researchers from the Universities of Glasgow, University of Bristol, University of Cambridge, The University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University, Imperial College London, Loughborough University, University of Strathclyde, Queen's University Belfast and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). Dr Kedar Pandya, Executive Director of Cross-Council Programmes at EPSRC and Chair of the National Quantum Technologies Programme, said “Current quantum technology research has unlocked new capabilities in several markets and is an area of strategic importance to the UK. Improving the resilience of our position, navigation and time-dependent services, particularly for critical infrastructure and security, is vitally important.” Researchers at the Hub will develop atomic clocks and LiDAR sensors, which use light to measure range, and create smaller, lighter quantum-enabled devices for applications in sectors including roads, railways and underground transport, where they could help improve navigation systems by replacing current GPS positioning technologies. Read more: https://lnkd.in/e87xCqZX

A new data analysis tool will help insurance companies to make more reliable predictions of how much money to keep in reserve. This will help them avoid overcompensating for risk by keeping too much cash in reserve, which can slow business growth. The software tool has been developed from the University of Liverpool’s six-year, £2.6 million EPSRC-funded Big Hypotheses project. The project is developing new algorithms to improve our use of statistical models so reliable inferences can be made from big, complex datasets more cheaply and quickly. In the future this could be applied to other industries including healthcare, defence, and security. Our Executive Chair Professor Charlotte Deane said: “The UK is a global leader in financial services and a healthy insurance industry is vital to the sector’s continuing success. This new tool, made possible by EPSRC support for cutting-edge research and state-of-the-art training, will aid the industry’s decision-making, as well as visibility and accountability. It will not just help safeguard insurance firms against future events but enable them to channel more resources into serving new and existing markets more efficiently and cost-effectively.” Head to our website for the full story.

The IOP’s new inclusion award, developed in partnership with the physics community, supports university physics departments to be welcoming and inclusive to all. ✨ 📣 We are currently seeking new members for the inaugural Physics Inclusion Award Assessment Panel. The panel is responsible for peer assessing Physics Inclusion Award applications and providing feedback.  Find out more and apply here: https://lnkd.in/es7HbSvx