Tag: research

Financial support for students expanded

A major expansion of postgraduate funding has been announced, with funding for students on Research Masters courses to be made available for the first time. This move will ensure that students can access all types of Masters study without financial barriers.

Tuition fee loans of up to £5,500 and living cost loan support of up to £4,500 will be made available to Scottish postgraduate students on Research Masters courses from the coming academic year onwards. This expands on support previously made available to taught postgraduate courses and distance learning postgraduate students.

Additionally, EU students will be eligible for the tuition fee element of the funding.

Announcing the expansion of support, Minister for Higher Education Richard Lochhead said: “The Scottish Government is committed to making higher education as accessible as possible.

“Research students in Scotland are working on the cutting edge of modern thinking. This expansion in funding will allow more students than ever before to pursue postgraduate study without financial barriers. This includes EU students, whose interests the Scottish Government is committed to protecting in light of Brexit.”

Eligible Scottish domiciled students will be able to apply for tuition fee support and living cost loan support for research courses beginning 2019/2020.

EU students will have access to the tuition fee element of this package, as they currently do for undergraduate and taught postgraduate courses.

Postgraduate support is demand-led. If a student applies for funding they will receive that funding, provided the course is eligible. More than 450 postgraduate students could benefit from this expanded support package.

£395k study to identify new dengue treatments

Dr Peter Barlow, senior lecturer, School of Applied Sciences. Photographed for The Bones newsletter.

A NEW study will assess whether tiny molecules found in the immune systems of humans can be used to combat the potentially deadly dengue virus. Continue reading £395k study to identify new dengue treatments

Vital research into incurable lung condition affecting millions to take place in Edinburgh

1,000 people are needed for ground-breaking research into an incurable lung condition at the University of Edinburgh. Supported by the British Lung Foundation, Professor Moira Whyte and Dr Gourab Choudhury will conduct research into the very early stages of the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Continue reading Vital research into incurable lung condition affecting millions to take place in Edinburgh

Bereaved participants wanted for world’s first study into how funerals aid the grieving process

A national study, which is a world first, is aiming to find out whether it’s possible to measure the importance of a funeral in the grieving process – and anyone who has organised or attended a funeral at any time is being urged to participate. Continue reading Bereaved participants wanted for world’s first study into how funerals aid the grieving process

First MND drug trial in twenty years comes to Scotland

MND Scotland has announced the launch of the first Motor Neurone Disease (MND) clinical drug trial in Scotland, in over 20 years. MND Scotland, who is part-funding the study in Glasgow, is committing over £1.5 million into MND drug trials in Scotland, with MIROCALS being the first investment.   Continue reading First MND drug trial in twenty years comes to Scotland

Leaders sign off City Deal

£1.3 Billion boost for local economy

Prime Minister Theresa May and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon joined council, business and academia leaders to formally sign off the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal yesterday.

The £1.3 billion deal will deliver inclusive economic growth across the region through housing, innovation, transport, skills and culture. The Scottish Government and the UK Government will each invest £300 million over the next 15 years.

The Scottish Government’s investment will contribute towards 41,000 new homes, 21,000 jobs and improve the skills of an estimated 14,700 people.

The Scottish Government’s investment in the City Region includes:

•         £60 million towards a Data Driven Innovation programme of investment, including the creation of economic infrastructure across the region to ensure that businesses and communities across the region are fully able to engage in the resulting opportunities
•         £65 million towards a regional housing programme, including the creation of a new housing company and housing infrastructure funding to enable the delivery of 41,000 new homes
•         £120 million for transport improvements to Sheriffhall Roundabout
•         £20 million for public transport improvements in West Edinburgh
•         £25 million for an Integrated Regional Employability & Skills Programme to reduce skills shortages and gaps and deliver opportunities for people across Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders
•         £10m towards a new concert venue for the city, providing a home for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and reinforcing Edinburgh’s reputation as a leading centre for music and the performing arts.

In addition, the Scottish Government is also providing Edinburgh Festivals with a £5 million investment over the next five years to fund The Platforms for Creative Excellence (PLaCE) programme which supports new innovative programming and skills development opportunities across the capital’s 11 major festivals between 2018-2023.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “Edinburgh and the South East of Scotland is an area of huge importance to the Scottish economy.  The region contains over a quarter of Scotland’s population and contributes £33 billion to the Scottish and UK economies.

“The Scottish Government’s £300 million investment in the City Region Deal will contribute towards 41,000 new homes, 21,000 jobs and improve the skills of an estimated 14,700 people across the region. Our investments will ensure businesses and communities from across the region benefit from the opportunities created by this the city region deal.

“Taken together these projects will help the region continue to thrive and grow, fulfilling our ambitions for the region to be one of the fairest and most inclusive areas in the country.”

Prime Minister Theresa May said:  “It is fantastic to be here at the University of Edinburgh to sign off on the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Deal.

“We are in one of the great cities of our United Kingdom, at a time of year when it serves not just as the capital of Scotland but as the cultural capital of the world.

I had the privilege of experiencing first-hand some of the cultural riches that the Edinburgh Festivals have to offer earlier today, and a great pleasure it was to do so. The Festivals are an international calling-card for Edinburgh and the surrounding area and when people come to take part in them they find a city and a region that has huge potential for the future. You see it clearly in the imagination and creativity on display here every August.

“But you see it too in the innovative and ground-breaking work that goes on in this city and area all year round. In great universities and colleges. In high-tech businesses. In financial and legal services hubs.

This is a city and a region that has so much to offer Scotland, the UK and indeed the world.

“The Edinburgh and South East City Deal is all about building on those strengths to open up new opportunities for the future in the creative industries, in research, in housing, in transport and in skills, and it will have a lasting legacy.

The UK and Scottish Governments are both helping to build the IMPACT Concert Hall – a new venue to cement Edinburgh’s place as the world’s Festival City.

The City Deal partners also want to turn Edinburgh into the Data Capital of Europe.

“So we are providing capital investment to develop new data storage and analysis technology here in Edinburgh. This great new facility, the Bayes Centre, will open in the autumn with UK Government investment, and will provide shared working spaces for applied data science and artificial intelligence research teams.

“It is one of five hubs across the city that will use data technology to support research and development activity in sectors of the future, from fin-tech and robotics to bio tech and health sciences. I want the UK to lead the world in these technologies. I want us to have the best regulation, the most advanced research and the most lucrative commercial applications.

“The City Deal will put Edinburgh at the cutting edge of that work and it is exciting to think about the future possibilities that this investment will open up. UK City and Growth Deals are a key part of our Modern Industrial Strategy. The UK Government has already committed over £1 billion to them here in Scotland.

Five have been signed, and three more are being negotiated.

“Just like the Modern Industrial Strategy as a whole, they are a partnership between Government at all levels, business and academia to combine our resources and to tackle the challenges of tomorrow. Because I believe we can achieve far more together than we ever could apart.

“So thank you to all the Deal partners for your work to get us here: The University of Edinburgh, who have hosted us today, as well as Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh Napier University, and Queen Margaret University.

“To the local authorities: Edinburgh City Council, Midlothian Council, East Lothian Council, West Lothian Council, Scottish Borders Council and Fife Council. And of course our colleagues in the Scottish Government.

“This is a great day for the south-east of Scotland and an exciting step towards a brighter future for this wonderful part of the UK.”