26 June 2000

Five Universities awarded £1.6M for research projects

Nine research projects from five Scottish universities have been awarded nearly £1.6 million in the first phase of an innovative new fund managed by Scottish Enterprise.

The "Proof of Concept" fund is the first of its kind anywhere in the UK and is designed to help universities, research institutes and NHS Trusts take forward ideas at a pre-development, conceptual stage in order to test their validity and investigate commercial opportunities.

Eighty-three proposals totalling £21 million were received and following a thorough assessment and judging process, a total of nine projects from Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paisley and Strathclyde Universities were selected to receive funding totalling £1.6 million.

Five projects were in the field of semiconductors and microelectronics, including one which was submitted jointly by Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow Universities. The remaining four proposals were in biotechnology. (A list of projects is attached)

A further eight applications totalling £1.7 million, including two food & drink projects, have been encouraged to undertake some additional work and re-apply.

The successful universities received their awards from Nicol Stephen, Deputy Scottish Executive Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning at a ceremony in Glasgow, where he also launched the second round of funding which totals £4 million. It was originally proposed that the second round would total £3 million but SE's cluster work is progressing faster than expected with Optoelectronics, Creative Industries and Oil & Gas set to join the three clusters already eligible.

Scottish Enterprise Chief Executive Robert Crawford said: "The proof of concept fund is important because it tackles head-on an issue that's been recognised in Scotland for many years. Our academic institutions have an international reputation for innovative thinking, but historically we've never been strong enough in bringing our concepts to the market place and using them as the basis for growing businesses, and that is where this fund will have an effect.

"In order to get the full value from the fund, proposals were assessed on the likely benefits flowing to the Scottish economy from the resultant commercialisation of the ideas presents as well as the extent to which they were likely to assist the development of Scotland's existing and emerging economic clusters."

He said that a number of lessons had been learned from the first round which would influence subsequent rounds including the creation of an outline application stage will highlight the most suitable proposals earlier in the process and enable quicker decisions on the others, and a redesign of the application form to have greater focus on commercialisation plans and cluster priorities.

"In addition , a series of workshops, focused around cluster priorities are planned to help us get to know each other, to make sure the application process is fully explained, and to ensure the funding criteria of each cluster team is understood. It will also provide an opportunity for the academic community to influence these criteria for the future, " he said.

And Mr Crawford added: "I am also delighted to be able to announce that applicants for the next phase will be able to apply on-line via the internet without the need to produce bulky paper submissions. This is especially gratifying for me as it will be the first of a host of Scottish Enterprise procedures to be made available electronically to our customers."

Mr John Archer, Chair of the Research and Commercialisation Committee of The Committee of Scottish Higher Education Principals (COSHEP), who also took part in the announcement said: "The Scottish universities are tremendously exciting 'ideas factories' bulging at the seams with potentially exploitable knowledge and eager to work with the commercial sector. Innovative academics have long since abandoned images of ivory towers and now more than ever they are just itching to see their knowledge put to use. The 'Proof of Concept' Fund has the potential to stimulate new business development as well as to contribute to Scotland becoming even more recognised as a 'knowledge centre'.

"COSHEP welcomes the enlargement of the next phase of the Proof of Concept funding and urges the Scottish Executive to help stimulate our knowledge economy with an even bolder third stage. I believe that we are only addressing the tip of an iceberg at present."

Principal of the University of Dundee Dr Ian Graham-Bryce: "This is excellent news for the University of Dundee which has done particularly well out of the Proof of Concept Fund, dominating the biotechnology cluster and attracting the lion's share - nearly half a million pounds - of the funding available to Scottish Universities. "This success against fierce competition underlines once again the University of Dundee's first class research standing, particularly in the increasingly important area of biotechnology - a major strand of the economy of the Dundee area."

Notes to Editors
1. Early in 1999 the Government's Knowledge Economy Taskforce was set up to accelerate collaboration between industry and the universities and so develop a stronger knowledge-based economy in Scotland. It identified the need for funding for projects at a pre-development, conceptual stage, and this led to the Scottish Executive providing £11million over 3 years to address this funding gap and support proof of concept work. The Taskforce also proposed that the funding should be directed by Scottish Enterprise towards proof of concept activity which supports cluster development. Cluster teams within Scottish Enterprise are already working closely with research institutes, universities and industry; this funding therefore is a vital contribution to the commercialisation process. The first three clusters to be prioritised for proof of concept funding are biotechnology, semiconductors & microelectronics and food & drink.
2. The objectives of the Proof of Concept fund are:

§ To improve the level and quality of commercialisation through the provision of funding for early stage development activity within Scotland's universities, research institutes and NHS Trusts § To contribute to the development of Scotland's clusters by facilitating the exploitation of enabling technologies from within the fundamental and strategic research base § To contribute to the longer-term development of a strong, knowledge-based economy in Scotland

3. Details of the awards are as follows:
SEMICONDUCTOR & MICROELECTRONICS CLUSTER: (TOTAL £575,373)

Recipient: University of Edinburgh (also includes Universities of Dundee & Glasgow) Project: Demonstration of the feasibility of integrating organo-metallic films in CMSO technology Total Award: £58,200

Recipient: University of Paisley Project: An investigation into the development of a novel type of silicon, micromachined sensor for combustible gas detection Total Award: £33,000

Recipient: University of Strathclyde Project: Advanced design and fabrication of silicon switch array for multi-gigabit communication systems Total Award: £160,689

Recipient: University of Edinburgh Project: Producing colour in emissive micro displays Total Award: £132,732

Recipient: University of Glasgow Project: Providing advanced 111-V monolithic millimetre-wave integrated circuit technology Total Award: £190,752

BIOTECHNOLOGY CLUSTER: (TOTAL £970,306)

Recipient: University of Glasgow Project: Screening technology for high throughput drug discovery-strategies for high throughput identification of novel therapeutic agents acting at G protein-coupled receptors Total Award: £215,300

Recipient: University of Dundee Project: The role of three novel molecules in wound healing Total Award: £291,525

Recipient: University of Dundee Project: Application of nanotechnology diagnostic biotechnology Total Award: £186,401

Recipient: University of Strathclyde Project: Novel delivery of therapeutic peptides and proteins to man: Pulmonary administration via protein coated microcrystals Total Award: £277,080

4.Scottish Enterprise is the main economic development agency for Scotland covering 93% of the population from Grampian to the Borders. The Scottish Enterprise Network consists of Scottish Enterprise and 13 Local Enterprise Companies. Working in partnership with the private and public sectors the Network aims to build more and better businesses, to develop the skills and knowledge of Scottish people, and to encourage innovation to make Scottish business internationally competitive. The Scottish Enterprise Network Strategy has set four main goals for the Scottish economy, including helping Scotland to develop and foster innovative, farsighted organisations. Further information on Scottish Enterprise and LIS is available on our website: http://www.scottish-enterprise.com

DAVID CANNON
SENIOR PRESS & PR EXECUTIVE (Tel 0141 228 2702)