The UK’s innovation agency has awarded £27m in funding for 31 new technology awards aimed at advancing the biotech industry.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) via its Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) has funded technologies ranging from imaging tools to exam cell behaviour to a mobile platform tracking carbon movement on farms.
The funding is part of BBSRC’s ALERT scheme, which was launched to equip bioscience researchers with the infrastructure needed to support their work.
This funding strengthens the UK’s bioscience capability by investing in advanced research equipment, enabling transformative science and fostering collaboration,” said Dr Amanda Collis, executive director for research strategy and programmes at BBSRC.
“In doing this, we are supporting world-class infrastructure that drives discovery and innovation essential to deliver real-world impacts and transform lives.”
Among the other projects being funded are a wearable brain-imaging platform that can track the neural activity of people from infancy to old age, which is being developed at the University of Birmingham.
At the University of Edinburgh, a dedicated research facility will be established to examine the regenerative qualities of the axolotl, in hopes of better understanding how to treat injuries and degenerative diseases.
A team at Lancaster University is developing a mobile carbon flux tracking platform to measure how carbon moves through UK farmland, which could provide critical data for improving soil health and land use policy.
