Global - Promoting Research Partnerships: Strathclyde Escalator for Global Engagements in Research

The University of Strathclyde is developing its reputation as a leading international technological university and demonstrates strengths in the areas of Photonics, Power and Energy, Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing, and Bionanotechnology. Within these themes international partners at various institutions in the USA and the Far East have been identified for longer term strategic engagements across multiple themes. To develop these and realise our ambitious targets the Global Engagements in Research Escalator framework has been proposed. This builds on existing linkages between international groups and the University and maps out the escalation activities.
The Photonics theme focuses on the application of gallium nitride visible light emitting diode technology in microsystems through international collaborations on advanced biomedical instrumentation and optical communications. It brings together under a unified technology platform two tremendous opportunities for solid state lighting: a high-bandwidth data communications interface for mobile communications and an interface for control of behaviour in organisms via optical stimulation of neurons.
In the Power and Energy theme an international research programme in smart grids will be created. This resonates with an area of international importance. In order to deliver the UK and global targets for a low carbon economy with renewable energy, the electric power system must change radically. New information and communication technologies must combine with advances in power system operation and control to accommodate electric vehicles, new energy services and a variety of renewable generation technologies. Our aim is to make novel advances in all of these areas by linking international experts and smart grid test facilities.
The Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing theme underpins society's major challenges in health, transportation, energy and climate. The engineering of flow systems on the micro and nano scales will play an important role in meeting these challenges; for example, nano-filtering seawater to make it drinkable for water-stressed populations, and embedding micro and nano devices in aeroplane and ship surfaces to improve fuel efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions. Partnering with the best international researchers in the field, our aim is to deliver comprehensive new techniques for simulating multi-scale flows, and demonstrate them on strategic engineering grand challenges including next-generation lithography. Within this theme the EPSRC Centre for Continuous Manufacturing and Crystallisation is concerned with establishing new collaborations on the development of novel continuous manufacturing technologies to improve understanding of particle formation and exploit this knowledge to enhance manufacture of particles with specific beneficial properties. This has significant potential given the importance of particulate processing across many fine chemical industries including agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, dyes, pigments and energetic materials. The proposed links with international experts will lead to accelerated progress, raised profile of UK-based research and ultimately enhance the opportunities for high quality, collaborative research outcomes.
The Bionanotechnology theme drives invention, manipulation and exploitation of nanoscale structures based on biological interactions with an emphasis on healthcare applications, most notably diagnostics, regenerative medicine and improvements to drugs either by delivery or target elucidation. By focusing on the molecular control over such processes and systems and linking leading researchers in the physical and life sciences with those in engineering and health related disciplines, the aim is to produce world leading research with applications in areas such as biosensors, functional materials and self-assembled nanostructures.

Who will benefit?
The main beneficiaries from the research engagement proposed in this application will be the postgraduate students and early career researchers who are predominantly involved in these activities. In addition to this, the researchers involved in each of the institutions detailed in the proposal will benefit through an increased level of engagement with a view to driving on their respective research areas. Further beneficiaries from this research will include policy makers within the international sector who will be influenced by the outcomes of the collaborative research programmes, which will also include benefit to both the commercial and public sector through higher levels of research engagement within the international research community. The final group of beneficiaries are the industrialists who will be exposed to the research either by involvement or awareness. The beneficiaries will, therefore, range from those directly involved in the strategic partnerships, but also those associated with the outcomes from the research. We envisage this impact on the beneficiaries to take place over a timescale ranging from immediately to 10 years' time.
How will they benefit?
The method of benefit will vary depending on the beneficiary. For instance, the overall programme will significantly enhance the knowledge economy which in turn will lead to new potential avenues for commercial exploitation as research programmes develop and emerge in collaboration with third party funders. The engagements envisaged in the power and energy sector will have a direct effect on the economic competitiveness of the United Kingdom through engagement with appropriate institutional partners on the international stage resulting in an overall advancement in the sector which will be exploited across the globe. There are benefits to be observed in the quality of life through some of the health orientated proposed engagements which will lead to the shaping of specific research programmes in collaboration with either primary funders or industrial exploiters on niche areas of research. For instance, we see regenerative medicine as an area which will emerge through the bionanotechnology interactions with universities in China and related industry partners. By developing enhanced capabilities for continuous manufacturing and crystallisation of pharmaceuticals and other fine chemicals, a wide range of companies currently supporting the EPSRC CIM at SU including GSK, AstraZeneca, Croda, Nitech Solutions, DSTL, Chemring, British Salt, Genzyme, Syngenta and Solid Form Solutions will benefit. This will result in an extension of the depth of the research programme to include our new leading international partners, accelerating overall progress against the Centre's scope and providing new opportunities to extend, for example into flow synthesis and other continuous separation techniques.
The potential impacts are likely to be significant and go beyond predominantly academic orientated achievements. One of the key aspects of this proposal is the weaving together of different areas of expertise identified by the University of Strathclyde for global engagement. This will give significant added value in terms of impact through the interaction of scientists and engineers coming from a wide diversity of backgrounds with their global partners to cover a far wider spectrum of activities than would normally be expected or feasible in a standard research engagement. This will initially have a significant impact on the academics involved in this activity, however, the opportunities for economic and societal impact are enormous and potentially transformative on a global scale.