News
University welcomes funding for science research
(12 February 2003)
A cash injection of £12.6 million for science research has been welcomed by the University of Durham enabling the institution to further build on its strengths in research.
This financial support from the Science Research Investment Fund (SRIF) is a welcome boost and allows the University to enhance its research infrastructure and capacity.
Vice Chancellor Sir Kenneth Calman commented: "We are delighted with this financial support to expand our research facilities. We are very proud of our excellence in research and this will enable us to further develop our strengths.
"The University is committed to continuous improvement of its infrastructure and we welcome this financial backing to enable us to achieve this."
The next steps for Durham University are to identify specific projects by 30 May. Durham has a wide range of key research areas to choose from. These include nanotechnology, photonics, biological and biomedical sciences, chemistry, physics and engineering.
The new funds come on top of Durham's allocation of £7.9 million in the last round of SRIF, which it used to create research centres in e-science applications and bio-active chemistry.
Work is currently underway on facilities for e-science applications which will also incorporate the re-located Department of Geology. The new facility is to give researchers opportunities to exploit new e-science techniques in a number of areas including simulations, modelling and visualisation. This project is expected to be complete later this year.
Following completion of the e-science centre, existing infrastructure will be refurbished to develop a base for research in bio-active chemistry and provision of equipment to establish laboratories for a wide range of areas including surface biotechnology and biomaterial engineering.
Item reorted in The Journal 12/02.
Notes to Editors:
- Areas of research within the new centres for e-sciences and bio-chemistry are to be wide-ranging. An example is the use of e-techniques in medical research to assess the behaviour of cells in relation to disease and treatment. Bio-active chemistry research will include the study of bioactive polymers and their applicability for improving the viability of stored semen for artificial insemination.
- Durham is one of the UK's top 12 research universities on two campuses in the city of Durham and in Stockton-on-Tees. In the 2001 national Research Assessment Exercise, 20 of our 33 departments gained top 5 or 5-star grades. 85% of our staff work in research of national or international standing.
De.lirio.us
del.icio.us
digg
Facebook
Twitter