7 June 1999
Joint release from the University of Dundee and the University of Abertay Dundee

£1m collaboration gives Dundee lead in biomodelling revolution

A major new centre - the largest of its kind in Scotland - to apply mathematical modelling techniques to biomedical and environmental processes is to be established in Dundee in a £1 million collaboration between the University of Dundee and the University of Abertay Dundee.

Funding for the Scottish Informatics Mathematics Biology and Statistics Centre (SIMBIOS) has been announced by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council who have allocated the project £950,000 under the Research Development Grant scheme.

In bringing number crunching techniques to bear on life sciences and related areas, SIMBIOS will combine the strengths of both universities, creating an informatics centre which will be the biggest in scale and broadest in scope of any in the UK.

Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Dundee Dr Ian Graham-Bryce warmly welcomed the development: "This is a very exciting collaboration and one which will underpin Dundee's international reputation as a leading centre of biomedical sciences. One of the most important aspects of SIMBIOS is its capacity for drawing together researchers from a range of disciplines as diverse as medicine, maths, environmental science, dentistry and computing. In our experience the resulting cross-pollination of ideas usually leads to an explosion of creative new lines of research. We look forward to seeing the fruits of SIMBIOS."

Professor Bernard King, Principal & Vice Chancellor of the University of Abertay Dundee, predicted that the project would produce major practical benefits for Scotland: "SIMBIOS will address the needs of society in the areas of healthcare, environmental science and agriculture through its innovative approach to mathematical modelling. It will also be an important part of the infrastructure to sustain the biomedical and biotechnology drive in Dundee and to turn round the Scottish economy from a labour-base to a knowledge-base. I believe that SIMBIOS will ultimately help to improve the physical and economic well-being of everyone in Scotland."

The activities of the new centre will be sited in two research nodes - one at the University of Dundee and one at the University of Abertay Dundee. The University of Dundee node will be based in laboratory space vacated by scientists who recently moved to the University's flagship of biomedical research, the adjoining Wellcome Trust Building. The University of Abertay Dundee campus will host the environmental node of SIMBIOS building on the University's expertise in environmental research.

SIMBIOS will be directed by a management team comprising Dr Mark Chaplain, reader in mathematical biology in the University of Dundee's Department of Mathematics; Dr John Palfreyman of the Environmental Research Group at Abertay Dundee, biochemist at the Wellcome Trust Building Dr William Hunter; Dr Bill Samson, of Abertay Dundee's School of Computing and Dr John Crawford of the Scottish Crop Research Institute.

Seven new posts will be created comprising two readers- one in bioinformatics and one in modelling - two lecturers, a research assistant, a business development officer and a secretary.

Said Dr Chaplain: "It is every mathematical biologist's dream to understand biomedical processes using mathematics. With the advances in applied mathematical and computational techniques, modelling can now be viewed as a powerful new experimental tool at the disposal of those working in the life and medical sciences. This centre takes us another important step down that route. It is our ambition that SIMBIOS will be a significant component in the coming computational biology revolution. The modelling work will provide deeper insight into many fundamental biological process and consequently has the capacity to make a direct impact on the quality of life of the Scottish public in healthcare and the environment."

Dr Palfreyman revealed that SIMBIOS was already arousing interest among the burgeoning Scottish biotechnology industry: "A number of leading companies have already said they would like to get involved, attracted by the sound theoretical base which we will provide for applied research and product development. SIMBIOS will help science and industry to directly tackle the challenges posed by, for example, the changing healthcare requirements of an ageing population, the need to use natural resources more sustainably, and the better management of waste products."/ends