N8

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Welcome to the October issue of the N8 Research Partnership ebulletin.

We were delighted that Sir Alan Langlands, Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, gave the opening address at this year’s Regener8 Annual Conference, which took place in Gateshead on 27 September. Sir Alan later described in the HEFCE monthly e-bulletin how his visit to the North East allowed him to see at first hand the positive impact that the N8 Research Partnership is having on the economy of the North of England.

The conference itself was a huge success, with over 180 delegates attending - the largest ever Regener8 event. The theme for the day was 'Regenerative Medicine: the road to the clinic’ and the event featured some of the leading RegenMed experts from the UK and beyond.

Since our last ebulletin, METRC, the N8 centre for nanotechnology, has announced a further round of funding to support new research and innovation projects between universities and companies in the fields of Nanotechnology, Science and Engineering. Each award is £5,000, which must be matched by at least £5,000 from the company. Five awards were made earlier this year as a result of the first round of applications.

After its launch earlier this year the N8 Industry Innovation Forum (N8IIF) has made good progress and will meet again, in November. The forum will focus on “Innovating for Healthy and Active Ageing”, with 3 specific themes - digital innovations for health and well being; ageing skin; and food and nutrition.

Finally, the N8 report on research asset sharing was highlighted in Nature in a letter from report author, Professor Luke Georghiou of the University of Manchester. Luke highlights the challenges around sharing assets, and the benefits and opportunities for doing so – such as the N8 High Performance Computing service, currently in pre-pilot phase.

I hope you enjoy reading this e-bulletin and please get in touch with your comments and ideas.

Best regards,
Sarah Jackson
Director, N8

REGENERATIVE THERAPIES PROGRESSING WELL TOWARDS THE CLINIC

The road to the clinic for regenerative therapies is easier to navigate, thanks to organisations like Regener8 offering opportunities for collaboration; that was the clear message at this year’s Regener8 Annual Conference.

The conference, which took place on Thursday 27 September, was entitled 'Regenerative Medicine: the road to the clinic’ and featured some of the leading RegenMed experts. Over 180 of the UK’s Regenerative Medicine community attended the conference, which was the largest ever event organised by Regener8.

A FURTHER ROUND OF METRC FUNDING TO HELP COMPANIES INNOVATE

The METRC Innovation Awards are designed to help companies to innovate in the fields of nanotechnology, science and engineering. The second call for applications has just opened, and will close on 3 November 2012. Each award is £5,000, which must be matched by at least £5,000 from the company.

N8 CAPABILITY STATEMENT

We have recently updated our Capability Statement. This key document sets out features of the N8 partnership and highlights some of our key achievements in the five years since the N8 Research Partnership was established.

View the Capability Statement on the N8 website.

INNOVATION FOR ACTIVE AND HEALTHY AGEING

Since its launch earlier this year, the N8 Industry Innovation Forum (N8 IIF) has been further developing the ideas and collaboration it was established to foster.

Set up in response to industry demand for a more coordinated, less fragmented offer from the research base, the Forum uses the “power of 8” – the N8 universities working together to connect academic and business partners, on a cross sector basis, to match industry needs with the latest research, science and technology solutions.

The next forum, to be held on 21 November at the Maritime Museum, Liverpool, will focus on Innovation for Healthy and Active Ageing. The Forum will be led by industry and will focus on: digital innovation for health and well-being; ageing skin; and food and nutrition.

Read more

N8 IN THE NEWS

The N8 Asset Collaboration project was highlighted in Nature by project lead Professor Luke Georghiou of the University of Manchester. His letter discussed how one of the challenges to sharing assets is knowing what facilities are available – and went on to highlight that the N8 Research Partnership is developing standardised databases of capital assets.

Nature subscribers can view the correspondence online.

Read more about the Asset Collaboration project on the N8 website.

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