Get ready for Gadgeteers, arriving online and in your local library this summer.
Science is all around you! What do you love doing? Are you a brilliant baker? Or a mega music fan? Are you the tech wizard amongst your friends? Join the Gadgeteers for the Summer Reading Challenge to discover the amazing science and innovation behind the world around you, including some of your favourite things!
Curious? Perfect! Your imagination can unlock endless possibilities… We’re teaming up with Science Museum Group for a very special science-themed Challenge that will inspire you to use your imagination and creativity!
Gadgeteers will feature amazing books, awesome rewards, and plenty of ideas for cool experiments and activities to discover the science all around you. The Challenge will be brought to life by top children’s writer and illustrator Julian Beresford.
Are you excited to join the #Gadgeteers this summer? Keep an eye on our blog for all the latest Summer Reading Challenge news!
· £4.25 million research grant has been awarded that seeks that seeks to discover meaningful MND treatments within years, not decades
· Grant awarded by charities LifeArc, MND Association, My Name’5 Doddie Foundation and MND Scotland, together with government research organisations Medical Research Council (MRC) and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)
· Funding awarded to researchers from King’s College London, University of Sheffield, University of Liverpool, University College London, University of Oxford and University of Edinburgh to establish a new UK-wide motor neuron disease (MND) research partnership to address problems hindering progress
· Funding is a springboard for the MND community to develop plans for further ambitious and large-scale research projects, attract significant investment for MND, and encourage more centres to join the scientific mission to find treatments and ultimately a cure for MND
· Generosity and fundraising efforts of charity supporters have played a big part in making this partnership a reality.
Global MND Awareness Day: A group of charities and government research organisations has awarded £4.25 million to MND experts at six UK universities to kick start collaborative efforts to end motor neuron disease (MND).
This new ‘MND Collaborative Partnership’ brings together people living with MND, charities LifeArc, MND Association, MND Scotland and My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, government bodies Medical Research Council (MRC) and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR),with researchers from King’s College London, University of Sheffield, University of Liverpool, University College London, University of Oxford and University of Edinburgh.
The partnership team will work together to find solutions to address problems currently hindering MND research and seeks to discover meaningful treatments within years, not decades.
Members of this new UK-wide MND research partnership will work together and pool their expertise over three years to:
coordinate research effort and deliver maximum impact for people with MND
develop better tests to measure MND progression and that allow doctors to compare different drugs
improve MND registers so doctors can collect detailed, high-quality data about the disease, and understand which patients are most likely to respond to a particular drug and therefore recommend them for the trials most likely to benefit them
support people to take part in clinical trials more easily
develop more robust lab tests and models of disease to enable scientists to test theories about the disease and a pipeline of potential therapeutic agents that could ultimately be used as MND treatments.
They will also launch a major new study involving 1,000 people with MND from across the UK to better understand disease progression and how people respond to new and existing treatments.
MND (also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease affecting the brain and spinal cord. People progressively lose nearly all voluntary movement and need complex care, and around half of those diagnosed die within two years.
Six people are diagnosed with MND every day in the UK and the condition affects around 330,000 across the world. One person in every 300 will develop MND. The only licensed drug for MND in the UK has a modest effect on extending life – but no treatments are available that can substantially modify disease or cure the condition.
Professor Ammar Al-Chalabi, co-director of the research programme and Professor of Neurology and Complex Disease Genetics at King’s College London and Director of King’s MND Care and Research Centresaid: “Our goal is to discover meaningful MND treatments within years, not decades. This landmark funding will bring the UK’s major MND research centres together for the first time in a coordinated national effort to find a cure.
“We now have a much better understanding of MND, so we must take this opportunity to accelerate development of new treatments and work together to move this knowledge into the clinic and help people affected by this devastating disease.”
Dr Catriona Crombie of LifeArc, the charity which has coordinated efforts from all funders to deliver this landmark MND Collaborative Partnership, said: “Over recent years, scientists have made great progress in MND, and this has opened up several promising avenues that could ultimately make a difference to patients.
“But there are some barriers hindering progress. For the first time, the MND community – that’s patients, funders, scientists and doctors – have come together to work out the problems and plan a way forward. As funders we are really excited at what this exceptional group of people could achieve for those affected with MND.”
David Setters, who is living with MND and has been involved in shaping the partnership said:“We welcome this collaboration, which paves the way for the £50 million government investment promised in November 2021, focused on making the first meaningful treatments for MND available within years, instead of decades.
“It brings real hope to those of us living with MND to see our leading neuroscientists and charities coming together in this way. The prospect of easier access to clinical trials and the most promising therapies being fast-tracked gives us a much-needed boost and brings a real sense of purpose to the community.”
Professor Christopher McDermott, one of the co-directors of the research programme and Professor of Translational Neurology at the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN)said: “We believe that by combining and coordinating our expertise, we will be more effective than if we work on projects in isolation.
“This partnership will provide the infrastructure to attract additional MND funding and enable further MND centres and researchers to join forces in the national effort to find effective treatments for MND. The partnership is the first step towards our goal to establish a national MND institute.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said:“Motor neuron disease has a devastating impact on those who are diagnosed, their families and loved ones – but there is hope.
“This new partnership is a highly ambitious approach which will drive progress in MND research and, backed by £1 million of government funding, will bring the MND research community together to work on speeding up the development of new treatments.The collaboration across government, charities, researchers, industry and people with MND and their families will take us one step closer to one day achieving a world free from MND.”
The Partnership was formed in 2021 to coordinate and pool funding for research into MND to speed up progress and help research to move towards the clinic and ultimately reach patients faster.
Funding for the MND Collaborative Partnership research grant totals £4.25 million and contributions are as follows: LifeArc (£1 million), MND Association (£1 million), My Name’5 Doddie Foundation (£1 million), MND Scotland (£250,000), Medical Research Council (MRC) (£500,000) and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) (£500,000).
New research has identified the role of the immune response within bowel cancer tissue, which could lead to new lifesaving treatments for bowel cancer patients.
The study at Queen’s University Belfast analysed over 1,000 tumour samples from patients diagnosed with bowel cancer. Through analysing the visual appearance of the tumour as well as its genetic make-up, the researchers were then able to test how the immune cells within the tumour responded to different treatments in the laboratory.
The study showed that stimulating a viral-like response within a tumour can reawaken the patient’s own immune system to detect and kill cancer cells. This immune response, similar to a person’s general response to an infection, plays an important role in controlling tumour spread in some bowel cancer patients.
Although in early stage research, it is hoped that this personalised approach to treatment for bowel cancer patients could lead to increased survival rates. The research team will now focus on developing clinical trials, with the aim to treat patients within the next five years.
Dr Philip Dunne, Senior Lecturer in Molecular Pathology at the Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research at Queen’s and senior author of the study, commented: “In order to identify the most appropriate treatment options for cancer patients, our work combines features from the tumour’s visual appearance down the microscope with information about changes in the genetic make-up of the person’s tumour.
“We have found that stimulating a subset of immune cells to react in the same way that they would to a virus can reactivate multiple steps within the immune system. In cancer patients with early stage tumours that remain localised to the bowel, this enables the immune system to attack cancer cells and reduces the risk of the disease spreading.”
Queen’s PhD student and first author on the study, Shania Corry, explains: “Our findings show that a viral-like response within a tumour can reawaken the patient’s own immune system to detect and kill cancer cells, an approach that has shown remarkable effectiveness in our tumour models.
“We used a synthetic analog of double-stranded RNA, which in many ways is similar to a non-specific vaccine. It looks like a virus to the immune cells though it doesn’t contain any viral replication material. This is a really exciting development, and we hope that this approach will now lead to new treatment options for patients with bowel cancer.”
Bowel cancer is the 4th most common cancer in the UK, with around 42,900 new bowel cancer cases and around 16,600 bowel cancer deaths in the UK every year. The study, published in Gut, to coincide with Bowel Cancer Awareness month, was led by Queen’s University Belfast in collaboration with scientists and clinicians across the UK and Europe as part of two international consortia funded by Cancer Research UK.
Dr Dunne added: “Our study highlights how research can provide clinicians with vital intelligence to make the right treatment decisions for patients in the clinic.
“We have already started the process of developing a clinical trial to test this new “personalised cancer medicine” approach, which has the potential to improve survival and enhance quality of life for bowel cancer patients in the next five years as we develop our work in clinical trials.”
This study used tumour samples from over 1,000 patients diagnosed with bowel cancer, which in turn required analysis and interpretation of the resulting data across an international network of multidisciplinary researchers.
Professor Owen Sansom, Director of the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute in Glasgow and co-author on the study, said: “This exciting new research demonstrates how cross-disciplinary collaborations, between scientists and clinicians, are essential to ensure we comprehensively characterise a patient’s tumour, allowing us to test novel treatments specifically designed to target the biology of the disease.”
Professor Mark Lawler, Chair in Translational Cancer Genomics and Professor of Digital Health at Queen’s, who co-authored the study said: “This important study demonstrates how scientific research at Queen’s can develop innovative new ways to treat cancer.
“The work pioneered by Dr Dunne’s research team validates our investment in “rising stars” who have the confidence to lead team science initiatives with prestigious international partners, addressing global challenges which will improve the lives of cancer patients.”
Responding to the study, Dr Sam Godfrey, Research Information Lead at Cancer Research UK, said: “An important goal for beating cancer is to work out how to train our immune systems to recognize the disease and attack it.
“So It is really interesting that we could manipulate one of the defences our bodies use to deal with viruses so that it can tackle cancer.
“Further studies are needed to assess the potential of this approach in patients, but it is an exciting development that could unlock new targeted treatments for bowel cancer.”
The research study was supported by an Early Detection project grant and International accelerator programme, both funded by Cancer Research UK (CRUK), with additional funding from the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Queen’s University Foundation, a charitable trust that funds the world-class research in Queen’s.
The National Climate Campaign empowers underserved communities across Scotland with climate change knowledge
Dynamic Earth have delivered a packed programme of events and experiences exploring climate change including the delivery of STEM kits to a local children’s hospital, as part of a National Climate Campaign uniting Scotland’s Science Centres.
The kits, designed for young people, contain a variety of activities and experiments focusing on earth and environmental sciences, with connections to climate change and marine environments.
These boxes give young people the chance to explore connections between ocean depth and pressure, experience augmented reality colouring-in, build their own rope and more, bringing science directly to them wherever they are.
Alongside their STEM kit distribution, Dynamic Earth delivered a series of in-person events and digital programmes reaching over seven thousand people as part of a campaign, building on the legacy of COP26 alongside Scotland’s other science centres.
The centre has been running climate change workshops with community audiences and family learning activities with local primary schools, reaching groups including the Edinburgh Young Carers Project Care for Carers and the Citadel Youth Centre.
Brought together by Glasgow Science Centre, the centres have joined forces to inform, inspire and empower a diverse audience to tackle the climate crisis and ensure the discussion on climate change remains open.
Working together to further climate science education in their communities, the National Climate Campaign saw each centre deliver a coordinated and interactive campaign of over 89 events, reaching over 13,000 members of underserved and underrepresented audiences by the end of March 2022.
The programme strived to make science more relatable and helps learners build up their science skills to understand the world around them.
Elsewhere in Scotland, Glasgow Science Centre have been hosting weekly community visits and film screenings, shining a light on the importance of science in the community and engaging with groups who are unlikely to visit Glasgow Science Centre regularly and can be most affected by climate change and its effect on lifestyle.
In total Glasgow Science Centre have facilitated 16 community group visits this year to the Science Centre, including visitors from Glasgow Disability Alliance, Yorkhill Green Space and African Challenge Scotland.
They have engaged 374 people who may have not visited the centre before, while also offering 3,000 primary school pupils in remote, rural and deprived areas access to their online interactive ‘Learning Labs’.
A highlight from Aberdeen Science Centre’s 20-event programme was last month’s Supper and Science Evening, where families came together to cook an evening meal at Northfield Academy.
While the meal was cooking, Science Centre staff ran a series of climate-themed workshop activities, including one where they recreated an oil spill with feathers and soap, to give the children some hands-on climate science experience.
In Dundee, the team created 150 climate-themed community kits for young people, containing a mini solar-powered windmill as well as other items to show how earth and environmental sciences connect to climate change and marine environments, while also engaging over 1,000 primary school pupils in activities during COP26 Schools Week.
Eilidh Massie, Marketing Director at Dynamic Earth said: “It is so important for people to not only learn about our amazing planet, but also to understand that the Earth’s climate system is something we have taken for granted for too long.
“At Dynamic Earth we’re committed to reminding people, young and old, that we need to act now before the damage is irreversible.
“It has been a fantastic opportunity to work collectively with Scotland’s Science Centres as part of the National Climate Campaign to further these messages.”
Stephen Breslin, CEO of the Glasgow Science Centre said:“We set up the National Climate Campaign to ensure that there is a legacy of climate engagement left behind after COP26.
“We hope that by providing communities across Scotland with our knowledge and resources, we can act as a magnet for climate engagement and help empower young people to make considered decisions and learn what climate change means for them.”
Environment Minister, Mairi McAllan said: “Young people have been among the strongest voices calling for urgent global action to address climate change.
“This campaign will make sure that young people in communities across Scotland continue to play a key role in our journey to becoming a net zero nation, delivering a lasting legacy for COP26, and making their voices heard loud and clear.”
For more information on the National Climate Campaign and Scottish Science Centre’s climate change education programming visit:
The National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) has established fifty fully-paid work placements within manufacturing and technology businesses across the country with the launch of the second round of its Manufacturing Skills Academy’s graduate training programme.
The placements are set to provide graduates with the opportunity to build in-demand skills and experience in the worlds of digital and advanced manufacturing, with positions now available across the Edinburgh region.
Each up to six months in duration, the placements are aimed at recent university and college graduates of a STEM related subject who are unemployed or struggling to find meaningful work due to the impact of Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Based within new and emerging markets such as green energy, space and renewables, placements are being offered within innovative companies across Scotland.
For example, successful applicants could find themselves working for Edinburgh based Shapespace Ltd, specialising in engineering and manufacturing analytics software, or Mask Logic, using additive manufacturing within product design.
Graduates could also look further afield to the likes of Scotmas Group, specialising in design, development and manufacture of environmentally sustainable disinfection equipment for water treatment, healthcare and food industry, with positions available in a number of companies across Scotland.
This new round of graduate training follows on from the success of the pilot programme launched early last year.
The programme saw thirty graduates recruited and placed with companies across Scotland and the NMIS Group giving valuable on-the-job work experience. A number of graduates have now gone on to secure extended contracts, or full-time employment.
Funded by the Scottish Government’s £20 million National Transition Training Fund (NTTF), the programme has been developed by the NMIS Manufacturing Skills Academy and is one of a number of initiatives designed to support Scotland’s economic recovery, and the transition to net-zero.
Minister for Youth Employment and Training Jamie Hepburn said:“The National Manufacturing Institute Scotland’s Manufacturing Skills Academy is delivering excellent work-based training to help graduates move permanently into high quality jobs in manufacturing.
“Building on the success of last year’s National Transition Training Fund pilot, this is an important opportunity for STEM graduates to access high quality training opportunities right across Scotland.”
Stewart McKinlay, Skills Director at the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland’s Manufacturing Skills Academy said:“We’re delighted we’ve received further support to provide an opportunity to fifty more graduates, now including those from colleges as well as Universities.
“The support from the Scottish Funding Council for the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland’s pilot graduate training programme last year allowed us to place 30 graduates within thriving businesses across the country and the specialist technology centres at NMIS.
“It was a real success, with a significant number of the employers making permanent job offers to the graduates and other graduates going on to receive multiple offers from other companies based on the strength of their work experience. The aim is to replicate, and improve on this further, in 2022.”
The graduate training programme is now open for applications. Candidates are asked to submit an application form and short video before being matched to potential opportunities with an industry partner.
Speaking about his experience from the 2021 graduate training programme, Mina Hanna, who has now secured a further contract with Opportunity Cromarty Firth and the University of the Highlands and Islands said: “The National Manufacturing Institute Scotland’s graduate training scheme was truly a life changing experience, and I would encourage all manufacturing and engineering graduates to apply.
“The time that was given to me by so many experienced professionals was an incredible opportunity and I am so grateful to NMIS Manufacturing Skills Academy for allowing me to embark upon a career that I am passionate about.”
NMIS, which is operated by the University of Strathclyde, is also encouraging expressions of interest from companies across Scotland that are interested in being part of the programme and placing a recent graduate.
Renewable Parts placed three graduates within its company last year. Michael Forbes, General Manager of Refurbishment Engineering at Renewable Parts, said: “We were delighted to work with the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland on the graduate training scheme, and with the high standard of applications.
“The business is growing, and the scheme allowed us to recruit for positions where otherwise we may have held off until a little later.
“The placement was almost like a 6-month interview, allowing us to see how the graduates integrated with the existing workforce.”
The applications process for the NMIS Manufacturing Skills Academy graduate training programme closes in early February.
An NMIS Insights online event is also taking place in the coming weeks offering an opportunity to find out more about the programme and hear from previous graduates and companies as they share their experiences.
Details will shortly be available on the event section of the NMIS website.
The once-in-a-generation James Webb Space Telescope launched on Christmas Day, with scientists and engineers across the UK playing a vital role in the mission.
The telescope, known as ‘Webb’, blasted off from the Arianespace spaceport in French Guiana on 25 December 2021 at 12:20 pm – the culmination of decades of scientific collaboration.
The mission is led by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency, with the UK playing a major role by leading the European consortium, which designed, built and tested one of the four main science instruments, working closely with partners in the US.
Science Minister George Freeman said: “Today is a monumental milestone for international and UK space science: the Webb Space Telescope will allow us to go further and deeper to explore and discover our planetary universe.
“The project draws heavily on the world-class expertise of top UK scientists and engineers who were able to deliver vital pieces of this complex and powerful telescope.
“Being at the heart of this international project showcases the innovative talent of the UK’s world-leading scientists and engineers, and emphasises our position as a global science powerhouse.”
Seeing the Universe
The telescope is set to redefine our understanding of the cosmos and unveil some of the secrets of the distant Universe.
Webb will peer through dusty clouds in space to allow scientists to determine how the first galaxies were formed and will see our own solar system in whole new ways and in never-before-seen detail.
Scientists and engineers in the UK were crucial to the development and launch of the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), which will be able to see the faint light from the most distant stars, effectively looking further back in time than ever before, and to peer through dust and gas to spot stars being born.
JWST’s Mid Infrared Instrument (MIRI), for which the UK leads the European Consortium. Credit: STFC RAL Space
The MIRI development has been funded by the UK Space Agency and the Science and Technology Facilities Council, part of UK Research and Innovation, and ESA.
Caroline Harper, Head of Space Science at the UK Space Agency, said: “Webb is set to re-write the text books on astronomy, showing us things about the universe we have never been able to see before. I am excited to see the fascinating discoveries the spacecraft makes as it reveals the evolution of the universe.
“The UK has played a crucial role in this once-in-a-generation mission, developing the Mid-Infrared Instrument, which will examine the physical and chemical properties of objects in the early universe in greater detail than ever.
“This has been a fantastic example of academic-industry partnership, showcasing the skills and expertise of our scientists and engineers.”
Webb in the UK
MIRI will deliver a host of capabilities, boasting a spectrograph to break up light into its constituent wavelengths, a coronagraph to block starlight and look at fainter objects next to stars, and a camera to take pictures.
MIRI was designed, built, and tested by a European Consortium of 10 member countries led by the UK, in partnership with the US. The European contribution is led by Professor Gillian Wright MBE of STFC’s UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UKATC), and includes STFC RAL Space, University of Leicester, and Airbus UK.
The UK’s lead role in the instrument involves taking responsibility for the overall design, science performance, and the mechanical, thermal and optical design, along with the assembly, integration, testing and calibration software.
The UK (UK Space Agency since 2011 and STFC) has invested almost £20 million in the development phase of MIRI and has continued to support essential post-delivery testing, integration, calibration and characterisation activities by the UK MIRI team.
Intégration EPC au BIL, le 06/11/2021. | EPC integration at BIL. 11/06/2021.
Professor Gillian Wright, European Principal Investigator for MIRI and Director of UKATC, said: “To see Webb launch, with MIRI on board, after more than two decades is a seminal moment.
“MIRI is a special instrument, for the breadth of its science, the team that built it, and being the coolest instrument on Webb. The MIRI team rose to the challenges and brought some exquisite engineering solutions to make it a reality.
“The Webb mission as a whole is an amazing technological breakthrough in scale and complexity, and this extends to the instruments, including MIRI. With the launch, all of us are excitedly anticipating the first MIRI data and the new view of the universe we will have.”
What’s next for Webb
Credit: NASA
Although Webb has successfully launched, its journey is only just beginning.
The giant mirror for the telescope had to be launched as 18 segments folded inside the launch vehicle and it must be unfolded, and all the segments perfectly aligned, in space. A huge sunshield the size of a tennis court is needed to keep the instruments cold enough to work and this must also be unfurled in space.
Webb will then go on a month-long journey to its destination, a million miles from Earth.
In the six months after launch, the observatory commissioning will take place – with first results expected in the summer of 2022.
The UK Government Office for Science has launched a new Foresight Project to help inform the government’s long-term net zero strategy.
The report titled A net zero society – scenarios and pathways follows the COP26 summit in Glasgow where global leaders convened to outline coordinated action to tackle climate change.
The UK government has committed to achieve net zero by 2050 which is essential to keeping global temperature rises limited to 1.5C.
Societal norms, practices and behaviours will play a significant role in emissions reduction, but these are uncertain and likely to change in the future. This project will provide the evidence and tools to help understand how behaviours could impact net zero.
Patrick Vallance, the government Chief Scientific Adviser, said: “If we are to keep warming below 1.5C, changes within society will matter as much as big technological changes. Through this research, we can understand the impact of potential societal changes on our path to achieving net zero.“
This project, due to run until late 2022, will produce an expert evidence review and a set of future scenarios and their implications for the energy system and for different groups within society.
Science and Innovation Day at COP26 will see the announcement of new initiatives backed by global coalitions of nations, businesses and scientists. These will support the implementation of the goals announced during the World Leaders Summit and other country commitments announced during the first week of the conference.
Government Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance will underline the critical role of science and innovation in enabling every country to access the tools it needs to immediately reduce emissions in line with Paris temperature targets, and to adapt to the effects of climate change that we are already seeing.
These initiatives include:
new commitments to accelerate innovation and low carbon transitions in industry and cities
new global Adaptation Research Alliance to increase the resilience of vulnerable communities on the frontline of climate change
independent experts to track progress against the Breakthrough Agenda announced by world leaders on 2 November, advising on action and collaboration
global scientific research community to produce annual climate risk assessment to ensure the dangers are fully understood by world leaders
Mission Innovation, a coalition of 23 governments (covering 95% of global public investment in clean technology, research and development) will announce 4 new ‘innovation missions’ in which countries will work together to accelerate the development of clean technologies for cities, industry, carbon dioxide removal, and the production of renewable fuels, chemicals, and materials.
Mission Innovation’s ‘innovation missions’ now cover sectors responsible for more than 50% of global emissions.
The Adaptation Research Alliance (ARA) – a global first – launches today. This network of over 90 organisations across 30 economies will see governments, research institutions and communities collaborate to increase the resilience of vulnerable communities on the frontline of climate change.
A new landmark programme putting the ARA’s work into practice is the Climate Adaptation and Resilience research programme (CLARE), jointly funded by the UK and Canada.
Today the UK announces a further £48 million towards CLARE, bringing the total UK aid funding to £100 million, alongside £10 million from Canada to support the development of actionable solutions in communities most vulnerable to climate change and extreme weather events. £40 million of the UK’s contribution will be focused on Africa, and in total the programme is set to benefit at least 5 million people around the world.
To support implementation of the Breakthrough Agenda announced by World Leaders on 2 November, a new ‘Global Checkpoint Process’ will seek to sustain and strengthen international cooperation in each of the emitting sectors.
Independent experts led by the International Energy Agency (IEA), together with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the UN High Level Climate Action Champions will produce an annual report to track progress and advise on action. Informed by this advice, countries will discuss how they can work together to make faster progress.
A group of leading international scientific organisations will make a new commitment to improve the way we assess and communicate climate risk to inform the decisions of world leaders.
The coalition, including, amongst others, the World Meteorological Organisation and the World Climate Research Programme, will work to ensure that research and reports for policymakers set out clearly for world leaders the full scale of the dangers we will face if global temperature increase is not held below 1.5 degrees.
Other announcements on Science and Innovation Day include:
Under the Industrial Deep Decarbonisation Initiative (IDDI) the UK, India, Germany, Canada and UAE will work together to create new markets for low carbon steel and concrete. The IDDI launched today a campaign where member governments, including the UK, commit to the disclosure of embodied carbon of major public construction by no later than 2025, they also pledged to achieve net zero in major public construction steel and concrete by 2050, and to work towards an emission reduction for 2030 to be announced next year.
Building on the success of the Futures We Want collaboration, the UK COP26 Presidency, in partnership with Italy, is establishing a new global partnership to leverage the power of science and innovation to address key challenges blocking the path to a climate-resilient, net-zero future.
This new partnership will bring together countries from across the world to pool scientific expertise and develop new ways to bring citizen voices into policy making, by running a series of region-led projects to tackle specific net-zero challenges.
47 countries (including Malawi, Spain, Morocco and the US) have committed to building health systems which are able to withstand the impacts of climate change and which are low carbon and sustainable. These include 42 countries, representing over a third of global health care emissions, which have committed to develop a sustainable, low-carbon health system. 12 of these 42 countries have set a deadline of 2050 or earlier, by which their health system will reach Net Zero.
Patrick Vallance UK Chief Scientific Adviser said: “The facts are clear: we must limit warming to 1.5C. Thanks to science, that is feasible – the technologies are already available.
Investment in research and development will deliver new clean technologies, while policies to create markets will ensure they are deployed. At the same time, science will help us adapt to the impacts of climate change we’re already seeing around the world and transform our economies.
“Through research and innovation, we will adjust essential systems and ensure continued safety, security and prosperity.”
Patrick Child, Chair of Mission Innovation and Deputy Director-General for Research and Innovation at European Commission said: “Clean energy solutions must be cost-effective at scale and available everywhere if we are going to reach net zero.
“We must invest in innovation now to scale up these vital technologies and avoid a climate disaster. International collaboration sits at the heart of this, and Mission Innovation provides a vital platform for world governments to drive action and investment in the technologies which will save our planet.
Jesse De Maria Kinney, Head of Secretariat for Adaptation Research Alliance (ARA) said: “Climate adaptation requires evidence-based solutions that are tailored to local contexts.
“The formal launch of the ARA highlights a growing global movement supporting this approach among funders, researchers, policymakers and communities and our collective commitment to driving a paradigm shift in the adaptation community where solutions are co-produced, action oriented and lead to positive changes in people’s lives.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan, COP26 Champion on Adaptation and Resilience said: “Action-focused research is crucial to effective, inclusive and sustainable climate adaptation, particularly to protect the most vulnerable communities from the impacts of climate change.
“We will ensure women’s voices shape these conversations, and women’s leadership and expertise are championed to deliver gender-sensitive adaptation solutions. Both the Adaptation Research Alliance and the UK’s support for the Climate Adaptation and Resilience research programme will improve the effectiveness of adaptation, putting people at the heart of climate research to build the resilience of those living on the frontline of the climate crisis.”
Science Minister George Freeman, Science Minister said: “Real change to combat climate change cannot happen without new scientific ideas, innovation and research, and it is clear that no country or company acting in isolation can deliver the change that is needed at the pace that is needed.
“As an innovation nation, we want to lead the global effort to have every country, organisation and business contribute to this agenda by encouraging new ideas and products. That is why, for example, we have launched new commitments to enhance international innovation cooperation and ensure we meet our climate goals.
“The scale of the challenge we face is daunting, but there is room for optimism, and I look forward to working together to unleash a new wave of innovation to build a cleaner, better, and more prosperous world.”
The typewriter’s social and technological influence is revealed in this new exhibition and looks at its role in society, arts, and popular culture. It traces the effect and evolution of typewriters across more than 100 years, from weighty early machines to modern style icons.
The impact of the typewriter has been much wider than simply speeding up the way we write. It helped revolutionise the world of work and change the lives of working women in particular. Typewriters helped them launch their own businesses at a time when female employers were rare and became a vital weapon in the fight for the vote.
6 Aug 2021–9 Jan 2022 Exhibition Gallery 4, Level 1 Free entry
On the 250th anniversary of Sir Walter Scott’s birth, experience his novels through objects that inspired him. In this small exhibition we show how Scott drew upon real historical objects for inspiration, placing objects alongside Scott’s words, and the stories in which they feature. While you view these fascinating objects, you can listen to an actor reading extracts from these tales.
In association with Walter Scott 250: Celebrating 250 Years of Scotland’s Greatest Storyteller.
This small exhibition highlights the exciting work being carried out in Scotland to fight against climate change. It brings together just some of the technological responses that have been developed in Scotland or that are being used here in the effort to cut carbon dioxide emissions. On show are a range of leading-edge equipment, much of it newly collected, alongside samples of natural material.
Supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
24 Sep 2021 – 9 Jan 2022 The Grand Gallery Free entry
The Extinction Bell is a work by Bristol-based artist Luke Jerram that aims to raise awareness of biodiversity loss. A fire engine bell from National Museums Scotland’s collection has been adapted to toll at random intervals 150-200 times per day. Each ring of the bell symbolises the extinction of a species, representing the number being lost every 24 hours (according to a 2007 report from the UN).
Supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
East Fortune Airfield, B1347, North Berwick EH39 5LF Open 10:00-17:00 daily
LEGO® Concorde Model 28 Jun – 31 Oct 2021 10:00 – 17:00 Free with entry to the museum
Master builder Warren Elsmore and his team have created a LEGO® Big Build of Concorde. Six metres long and made of over 60,000 bricks, the model took five days to build and is now on display under the wings of the real Concorde at the National Museum of Flight.
Supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
The Glenmorangie Annual Lecture: Rediscovering Viking-age Scotland with Michael Wood
26 Oct 2021 18:00—19:00 Watch online Free, with option to add a donation
Join historian and broadcaster Michael Wood and Dr Adrián Maldonado, Glenmorangie Research Fellow, as they take a fresh look at some of the iconic objects on display in the National Museum of Scotland and discuss new research on objects in the museum’s stores. The event celebrates the launch of Adrián’s new book, Crucible of Nations: Viking Age to Medieval Scotland, which reassesses the museum’s 9—12th century collections, uncovering an exciting new vision of Scotland’s diverse and creative past.
The event includes a live Q&A chaired by writer and broadcaster, Sally Magnusson.
Art and Science – Communicating the Climate Emergency
4 Nov 2021 19:30 – 20:30 Watch online Free, with optional donation
As the eyes of the world turn to Scotland for the UN Climate Conference in November, join artists Luke Jerram and Philip Pinsky, along with National Museums Scotland curators, for a discussion about the urgency of the climate and biodiversity crisis. Explore how the research and technology being used to tackle these issues can be shared with the wider public, and consider how art can help communicate these critical messages and inspire change.
Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF Open 10:00–16:30 daily
For families
October Half Term
18 Oct – 25 Oct 2021 10:00 – 12:00 & 14:00 – 16:00 Free, drop-in and online
Reduce, Reuse, and Rewild this October Half Term with activities to do at home or visit us in the museum to learn more. Take a walk on the wild side with our Rewilding Trail, make musical instruments from things you can find on a walk outside, or “go green” this Halloween and raid your recycling bin to craft a bat rocket and make some monster feet to wear!
And If Not Now, When? 1 Nov – 14 Nov 2021 10:30 – 16:30 Event Space, Level 2 Free entry, sign up on the day in the Grand Gallery
And If Not Now, When? is an immersive, reactive, sound and film installation by Edinburgh artists Philip Pinsky and Karen Lamond which invites you to experience a transformed urban reality to inspire hope and possibility.
Confronted with a heightened version of a busy urban junction; heavy traffic, pollution and noise, you will walk through a sound and film installation, guided by a lighted path. As you do so, notice how your position in the room directly impacts the environment around you. Watch and listen as your actions transform one environment into another and end the experience with a vivid and tranquil re-imagining of how we could all live peacefully in our cities.
National Museum of Flight East Fortune Airfield, B1347, North Berwick EH39 5LF Open daily 10:00 – 17:00
For families
Survival Skills
19 Oct – 22 Oct 2021 11:30 – 16:00 Free with pre-booked museum entry
Take part in survival skills training for all the family at the National Museum of Flight this October half term. Learn how to set up a ‘leave no trace’ camp in the Concorde Hangar and sign up for our family bushcraft workshop.
Supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
26 Jun – 31 Oct 2021 10:00 – 17:00 Self-guided activity recommended for families with children aged 7-11 Free with pre-booked museum entry
Discover how engineers are working to make air travel less damaging to the environment. Download or pick up your trail to explore the museum while you learn about the challenges faced by the aviation industry and discover some of the innovative solutions that could be used.
15 new studies across the UK will expand research into long COVID to support thousands of vulnerable people, backed by nearly £20 million through the NIHR
15 new studies across UK to expand research that will support thousands of vulnerable people
Nearly £20 million for research projects will help improve understanding of long COVID and identify effective treatments
Projects include the largest long COVID trial to date which will involve over 4,500 people
Thousands of people suffering with long COVID will benefit from new research programmes backed by £19.6 million to help better understand the condition, improve diagnosis and find new treatments.
An extensive programme of 15 new research studies, backed by government funding through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), will allow researchers across the UK to draw together their expertise from analysing long COVID among those suffering long-term effects and the health and care professionals supporting them.
The latest research shows that although many people make a full recovery following COVID-19, a significant proportion of people continue to experience chronic symptoms for months. These ground breaking studies aim to help those people affected return to their normal lives.
The projects will focus on:
Better understanding the condition and identifying it
Evaluating the effectiveness of different care services
Better integrating specialist, hospital and community services for those suffering with long COVID
Identifying effective treatments, such as drugs, rehabilitation and recovery to treat people suffering from chronic symptoms
Improving home monitoring and self-management of symptoms, including looking at the impact of diet, and
Identifying and understanding the effect of particular symptoms of long COVID, such as breathlessness, reduced ability to exercise and brain fog
Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid, said: “Long COVID can have serious and debilitating long term effects for thousands of people across the UK which can make daily life extremely challenging.
“This new research is absolutely essential to improve diagnosis and treatments and will be life-changing for those who are battling long-term symptoms of the virus.
“It will build on our existing support with over 80 long COVID assessment services open across England as part of a £100 million expansion of care for those suffering from the condition and over £50 million invested in research to better understand the lasting effects of this condition.”
Professor Nick Lemoine, Chair of NIHR’s long COVID funding committee and Medical Director of the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN), said: “This package of research will provide much needed hope to people with long-term health problems after COVID-19, accelerating development of new ways to diagnose and treat long COVID, as well as how to configure healthcare services to provide the absolute best care.
“Together with our earlier round of funding, NIHR has invested millions into research covering the full gamut of causes, mechanisms, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of long COVID.”
The selection process for this broad range of innovative studies into long COVID involved people with lived experience at every stage and their input has been invaluable in shaping the outcome of this call and the research projects which will receive funding.
The projects include:
STIMULATE-ICP at University College London which will be the largest long COVID trial to date, recruiting more than 4,500 people with the condition. With £6.8 million of funding, the project will test the effectiveness of existing drugs to treat long COVID by measuring the effects of 3 months’ treatment, including on people’s symptoms, mental health and outcomes such as returning to work. It will also assess the use of MRI scans to help diagnose potential organ damage, as well as enhanced rehabilitation through an app to track their symptoms.
The immunologic and virologic determinants of long COVID at Cardiff University with nearly £800,000, which will look at the role of the immune system in long-term disease and whether overactive or impaired immune responses could drive long COVID by causing widespread inflammation.
ReDIRECT at University of Glasgow backed by nearly £1 million, which will assess whether a weight management programme can reduce symptoms of long COVID in people who are overweight or obese.
LOCOMOTION at University of Leeds with £3.4 million, which focuses on identifying and promoting the most effective care, from accurate assessments in long COVID clinics to the best advice and treatment in surgeries, as well as home monitoring methods that can show flare-ups of symptoms. The research aims to establish a gold standard of care that can be shared across England and the rest of the UK.
EXPLAIN at University of Oxford backed by £1.8 million, which will seek to diagnose ongoing breathlessness in people with COVID-19 who were not admitted to hospital, using MRI scans to trace inhaled gas moving into and out of the lungs to assess their severity and whether they improve over time.
UK Government Minister for Scotland Iain Stewart said: “Long Covid is a terrible illness affecting thousands of people across the UK, and as it’s such a new disease, there’s still a lot we don’t know about it.
“This UK Government funding, which is supporting studies led by the University of Glasgow and University of the West of Scotland, will help us make progress in understanding long Covid and hopefully improve treatment and support for patients right across the UK.”
Professor Amitava Banerjee, Associate Professor in Clinical Data Science and Honorary Consultant Cardiologist, University College London, Chief investigator of the STIMULATE-ICP (Symptoms, trajectory, inequalities and management: understanding long COVID to address and transform existing integrated care pathways) trial, said: “Individuals with long COVID have long been asking for recognition, research and rehabilitation.
“In our two-year study across six clinical sites around England, we will be working with patients, health professionals, scientists across different disciplines, as well as industry partners, to test and evaluate a new ‘integrated care’ pathway from diagnosis to rehabilitation, and potential drug treatments in the largest trial to-date.
“We will also be trying to improve inequalities in access to care and investigating how long COVID compares with other long-term conditions in terms of use of healthcare and burden of disease, which will help to plan services.”
Dr Dennis Chan, Principal Research Fellow, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, Chief investigator of the CICERO (Cognitive Impairment in long COVID: PhEnotyping and RehabilitatiOn) project, said: “Cognitive impairment, referred to informally as ‘brain fog’, is a major component of long COVID that compromises people’s daily activities and ability to return to work.
“The aim of this study is twofold; first, to understand better the nature of this ‘cognitive COVID’ in terms of the cognitive functions affected and the associated brain imaging changes, and second, to test whether neuropsychological rehabilitation can improve people’s outcomes.
“If this study is successful we will not only understand much better the way in which COVID affects the brain but also provide NHS services with new tools to help people recover from their cognitive difficulties.
Professor Fergus Gleeson, Professor of Radiology and Consultant Radiologist, Oxford University, Chief Investigator of EXPLAIN (HypErpolarised Xenon Magnetic Resonance PuLmonary Imaging in PAtIeNts with Long-COVID) project, said: “Following on from our earlier work using hyperpolarised xenon MRI in patients following hospitalisation with COVID-19 pneumonia, where we showed that their lungs may be damaged even when all other tests were normal, it is critical to determine how many patients with long COVID and breathlessness have damaged lungs, and if and how long it takes for their lungs to recover.
“Hyperpolarised xenon MRI is a safe scanning test that requires the patient to lie in the MRI scanner and breathe in one litre of the inert gas xenon that has been hyperpolarised so that we can see it using MRI.
“The scan takes a few minutes and does not require radiation exposure, so it may be repeated over time to see lung changes. Using this technique, we can see the xenon – which behaves in a very similar way to oxygen – move from the lungs into the blood stream.
“In this way, we can see if there has been damage to the airways in the lungs, or to the areas where oxygen crosses into the blood stream, which appears to be the area damaged by COVID-19.”
Background information
The projects were funded following a UK-wide research call for ambitious and comprehensive research into understanding and addressing the longer term physical and mental health effects of COVID-19 in non-hospitalised people and will build on the existing research already commissioned to look at long COVID.
In February 2021, 4 projects funded by NIHR and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) were announced, following the first research call.
The UK began the commissioning of long COVID research in 2020 and some projects are already producing results that are informing the understanding of long COVID. This research call adds to the existing investment of over £30 million of research funding taking the total investment to £50 million.
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued official guidance on best practice for recognising, investigating and rehabilitating patients with long COVID. According to NICE guidance, ‘long COVID describes signs and symptoms that continue or develop after acute COVID-19. It includes both ongoing symptomatic COVID-19 (from 4 to 12 weeks) and post-COVID-19 syndrome (12 weeks or more).’
In October 2020, NHS England and Improvement launched a 5 point plan for long COVID. There are now 89 specialist post COVID-19 clinics operating in England.
On 15 June 2021, NHSEI published a new 10 point plan and announced an additional £100 million expansion of care for patients with long COVID.
Study summaries
Developing and testing the best ways to diagnose, treat and provide rehabilitation for people with long COVID
Dr Amitava Bannerjee, University College of London – £6.8m
The wide-ranging symptoms of long COVID are debilitating and need coordinated care from specialists, hospitals and community services. The STIMULATE-ICP (Symptoms, trajectory, inequalities and management: understanding long COVID to address and transform existing integrated care pathways) trial, developed with the help of patient organisations, will be the largest long COVID trial to date, recruiting more than 4,500 people with the condition. This project will test the efficacy of existing drugs to treat long COVID, and measure the different effects of three months’ treatment on patients with regards to their symptoms, mental health and outcomes such as returning to work. It will also assess the use of MRI scans to help diagnose potential organ damage in those recovering from the coronavirus, as well as enhanced rehabilitation – the provision of joined-up specialist care centred around an app for patients allowing them to track their symptoms.
Optimising standards of care for long COVID in hospitals, doctors’ surgeries and at home
Dr Manoj Sivan, University of Leeds – £3.4m
Although there are 83 long COVID clinics in England, most people have not had access to them, and face long waiting times to be seen. The LOCOMOTION (long COVID multidisciplinary consortium: optimising treatments and services across the NHS) project focuses on identifying and promoting the most effective care, ranging from accurate assessments in these clinics to the best advice and treatment in surgeries, as well as home monitoring methods that can show flare-ups of symptoms. Drawing from the experiences of current long COVID patients and NHS professionals, the research aims to establish a ‘gold standard’ of care that can be shared across England and the rest of the UK. Analysis will be conducted in 10 long COVID clinics, at home and in doctors’ surgeries, and the study will track referrals and evaluate different services through patient interviews to make sure they are efficient, accessible and cost-effective. Specialists in healthcare inequality will also ensure that views are sought and recorded from people who are not visiting clinics.
Explaining why long COVID patients experience breathlessness and a reduced ability to exercise
Professor Fergus Gleeson, University of Oxford – £1.8m
One of the most prevalent and persistent symptoms among long COVID patients has been discomfort in breathing following physical activity. The EXPLAIN (Hyperpolarised xenon magnetic resonance pulmonary imaging in patients with Long-COVID) project will seek to diagnose ongoing breathlessness in coronavirus patients who were not admitted to hospital, using MRI scans to trace inhaled gas moving into and out of the lungs.
A 15-minute scan using low levels of xenon gas will display lung function and – if abnormalities are found – comparisons of data across different groups of participants recruited from Oxford and Sheffield can help assess their severity and whether they improve over time. Some EXPLAIN patients will also have a separate scan to see if heart damage can be identified. If the MRI scans separate patients with and without lung disease, further CT scans can be analysed, using artificial intelligence and blood samples to identify associated conditions and inform the development of treatments.
Understanding and treating ‘brain fog’
Dr Dennis Chan, University College London – £1.2m
Up to three quarters of people who experience long-term symptoms after COVID-19 report problems with memory, attention or other cognitive functions – symptoms known collectively as ‘brain fog’. The CICERO (Cognitive Impairment in long COVID: PhEnotyping and RehabilitatiOn) project will first determine which elements of brain function are most affected in people with long COVID. The relationship between brain function and other symptoms of long COVID, such as fatigue and anxiety, will be explored, and MRI scanning will be used to identify the affected brain networks. The researchers will then develop and test a new rehabilitation strategy to help people recover from the cognitive aspects of long COVID and return to normal life and working ability. This will support production of a freely available COVID-19 Cognitive Recovery Guide on how best to offer the new rehabilitation approach depending on the patient’s symptoms.
Co-designing personalised self-management for patients at home
Professor Fiona Jones, Kingston University – £1.1m
Long COVID describes more than 200 different symptoms that can interact and fluctuate. Although fatigue and problems with brain function are the most common symptoms, each patient can experience a different set of symptoms. The LISTEN (Long COVID Personalised Self-managemenT support – co-design and EvaluatioN) project will work in partnership with people who have long COVID to design and evaluate a package of self-management support that can be personalised to individual needs. The researchers will first work with people living with or recovered from long COVID, plus a social enterprise with expertise in reaching seldom heard populations, to design the package and associated patient and training resources. The team will then test the self-management package alongside up to six one-to-one virtual coaching sessions from trained rehabilitation practitioners, to test whether the treatment improves how people with long COVID feel and how they cope with everyday activities. The researchers will also evaluate how the package could be implemented more widely, with the aim that self-management for people with long COVID can be delivered at scale.
ReDIRECT: Remote Diet Intervention to Reduce long Covid symptoms Trial
Dr David Blane, University of Glasgow – £999,679
The immunologic and virologic determinants of long COVID
Professor David Price, Cardiff University – £774,457
Quality-of-life in patients with long COVID: harnessing the scale of big data to quantify the health and economic costs
Dr Rosalind Eggo, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine – £674,679
Percutaneous Auricular Nerve Stimulation for Treating Post-COVID Fatigue (PAuSing-Post-COVID Fatigue)
Dr Mark Baker, Newcastle University – £640,180
Immune analysis of long COVID to inform rational choices in diagnostic testing and therapeutics
Professor Daniel Altmann, Imperial College – £573,769
Understanding and using family experiences of managing long COVID to support self care and timely access to services
Professor Sue Ziebland, University of Oxford – £557,674
Development of a robust T cell assay to retrospectively diagnose SARS-CoV-2 infection and IFN-γ release assay as diagnostic and monitoring assay in Long COVID patients
Dr Mark Wills, University of Cambridge – £372,864
Using Activity Tracking and Just-In-Time Messaging to Improve Adaptive Pacing: A Pragmatic Randomised Control Trial
Professor Nicholas Sculthorpe, University of the West of Scotland – £317,416
Impact of COVID-19 vaccination on preventing long COVID: a population-based cohort study using linked NHS data
Professor Daniel Prieto-Alhambra, University of Oxford – £224,344
Long COVID Core Outcome Set (LC-COS) project
Dr Tim Nicholson, King’s College London – £139,619
