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N8 Research Partnership

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

The second meeting of the N8 Industry Innovation Forum (N8 IIF) took place in November in Liverpool to look at new research and innovation opportunities to support business growth and help make life better for an ageing population. Attended by over 100 people from industry, the N8 universities, charities and the NHS, the event was a great success with 28 ideas emerging for new collaborations and innovative projects. You can stay up to date with the N8 IIF through the N8 IIF _Connect page. You can also find out more about the N8 IIF by watching our new video on the N8 website.

We were really pleased to be featured as a case study in the fourth Annual Innovation Report published in November by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and launched by Business Secretary Vince Cable. In the same month, Vince Cable also announced “Impact Acceleration Accounts” from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), with the N8 universities awarded funding of £12.5 million to help scientists and engineers create successful businesses from their research, improve collaboration with industry and foster greater entrepreneurship.

From this month, the N8 High Performance Computing centre will provide a full service to researchers following a successful pilot phase. The facility is hosted by University of Leeds and will be run jointly with University of Manchester. An event will be held next year to launch the service to industry and to highlight the opportunities for collaboration and knowledge exchange that the HPC will offer, and we’ll have more information about this in our next ebulletin.

Since our last ebulletin, a number of METRC Innovation Awards have been made to help companies innovate in partnership with academic experts from universities in the north of England. One of the collaborations to be given an award is a team of academics from the School of Chemistry at Newcastle University and International Paint, part of AkzoNobel, to explore innovative marine coatings technologies. A further call for funding will open in February, and information about this will appear on the N8 website closer to the time.

Please get in touch with your comments and ideas. Have a very Happy Christmas and prosperous New Year – see you in 2013!

Best regards,
Sarah Jackson
Director, N8

N8 Industry Innovation Forum collaborates to promote healthy and active ageing

World-leading innovation experts from industry and the N8 universities gathered in Liverpool in November to create new ideas and concepts to encourage healthy and active ageing - one of the biggest issues and opportunities facing society today.

The event was organised by the N8 Industry Innovation Forum (N8 IIF) – set up to encourage new collaborations between industry and the N8 research-intensive universities to drive innovation, competitive advantage and growth.

Involving over 100 senior figures from industry, charities, the NHS and the N8 group of universities, the event focused on digital innovation for health and well-being, ageing skin, and food and nutrition. Companies taking part included Boots, Phillips and AstraZeneca as well as the charities Age UK, Carers UK and Help the Hospices.

Ideas emerging from the event included smart technology to help older adults manage increasingly complex personal health needs and diagnostic tools for improved nutrition.

N8 IIF features as case study in BIS Innovation Report

We were delighted when the N8 Industry Innovation Forum featured as an example of best practice in university-business interaction in the fourth Annual Innovation Report, published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

The report highlights the contribution of business, government, higher education and research organisations to innovation activities in the UK. Writing in the foreword, David Willetts, the Universities Minister, says “The UK has one of the leading research bases and outstanding R&D capability” and that “the UK ranks second in the world for university-industry collaboration, behind Switzerland but ahead of the US.”

Read the full report.

N8 universities receive funding boost to support partnerships with industry

The N8 universities have received total funding of £12.5m to help scientists and engineers create successful businesses from their research, improve collaboration with industry and foster greater entrepreneurship.

The “Impact Acceleration Accounts” were announced on 15 November by Business Secretary Vince Cable. The funding comes from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the UK’s main funding agency for scientific research. Awards were made to 31 UK universities in all, worth a total of £60m.

N8 High Performance Computing centre launches

The new £3.25m N8 Centre of Excellence for High Performance Computing (N8 HPC) will provide a full service from December 2012.

The centre is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and will provide a shared facility for high performance computing for the N8 universities, providing researchers with access to a core high performance computing facility, shared on an equal basis.

Based at the University of Leeds, and run jointly with the University of Manchester, N8 HPC will provide a major boost to world-class research in all of the N8 universities, enabling researchers to build more realistic computational models and undertake more complex analyses. The shared facility will make it easier for institutions to collaborate on research and will create opportunities to engage more effectively with business and the community.

An event will be held in March 2013 to launch the service to industry and to highlight the opportunities for collaboration and knowledge exchange.

METRC Innovation Awards - Call 2 winners announced

METRC – the N8 Centre for nanotechnology - has announced the first tranche of METRC Innovation Award winners from Call 2.

METRC Innovation Awards support new research and innovation projects between universities and companies in the fields of Nanotechnology, Science and Engineering. Any company can apply but preference is given to Small or Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Each award is worth £5,000 and must be matched with £5,000 cash from the partner company.

Seven awards have been made from Call 2, for projects which will involve academic expertise from the universities of Sheffield, Newcastle and Bradford.

The third call for applications will open on 14 February 2013.

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Finally ...

Have a very Happy Christmas and prosperous New Year - see you in 2013!

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