EPSRC Unspent Grant Balances 2010 - the 2013 Update Report

Unspent Grant Balances 2010 – the 2013 Update Report
The University of Edinburgh
PI: Professor Nigel Brown

Updates on the Unspent Grant Balances 2010 awards are as follows:

1. Microelectrode Systems in Wound Healing, Dr Stewart Smith (Engineering) - the funding has supported the research activities of a self-funding PhD student working on the use of microfabricated electrodes to study biological cells in an investigation of wound healing processes. She will present a poster at the following conference later this year i.e. http://www.ibca2013.net/index.html. The project has now brought in collaboration with Professor Baljean Dhillon (School of Clinical Sciences) and Shyamanga Boorah, a clinician currently undertaking a PhD with Sidharthan Chandran, at the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine. This will involve comparison of retinal cells with similar cells derived from stem cells. Initial results are promising and hopefully will lead to publications and future funding applications.

2. Biochar Value Improvement, Dr Ondrej Masek (Engineering) - the main outcome/ impact of this research is a patent application related to improved stability of Biochar as a result of Biomass pre-treatment. Discussions are now underway with a patent attorney in regards to filing an application. The results of this research will be published after the patent application has been completed.

3. Room Temperature Fischer-Tropsch Reactions, Professor Polly Arnold (Chemistry) - recent updates include: (i) the publication entitled ‘Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide insertion chemistry of f-block N-heterocyclic carbene complexes’ by P.L. Arnold, Z.R. Turner, A.I. Germeroth, I.J. Casely, R. Bellabarba and R.P. Tooze in Dalton Trans. 2013, online. DOI: 10.1039/C2DT31698F; ranked in the top ten most accessed articles online for Dalton Trans. in Jan 2013 (ii) the PDRA's experience from the project in thinking about IP tech transfer has led to her decision to accept a job as a patent lawyer in Munich, and (iii) preliminary results levered new funds for a three year PDRA position for Dr Johann Hlina from Graz University, Austria.

4. Algorithms versus Lower Bounds, Dr Rahul Santhanam (Informatics) - no updates to report.

5. Research Engagement for Mathematics, Professor Iain Gordon (Mathematics) - one further paper has been completed and submitted to the Cornell University Library. The paper is entitled ‘The Auslander-Gorenstein property for Z-algebras’ by I.G Gordon and J.T. Stafford.

6. New Materials for Water Quality, Dr Helen Brindle (Engineering) - thanks to the extra data obtained from this funding, Heriot-Watt University have now taken over the patent and have proceeded to the next stage of filing. Dr Brindle has also collaborated with IDEXX to test her technology on their products. Dr Brindle also entered the Converge Challenge 2013 with this project, and was selected to participate (30 selected of over 60 applications), and won the Elevator Pitch competition. Data is currently being compiled for a publication.

7. Networking in Advanced Water Treatment, Professor Andrea Schaefer (Engineering) - no updates to report.