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6 August 2004 - Media release PRHE/03/04

£2.4 million funding to aid the fight against disease

The Scottish Bioinformatics Research Network (SBRN), a consortium of Scottish universities and research institutes, has been awarded £ 2.4 million to help tackle the problems of human and agricultural disease.

The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC), the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD), and Scottish Enterprise have awarded the funding to the SBRN, which is led by the University of Dundee (Geoff Barton). The cash will be provided over four years from the 2004-05 academic year and is to be used to help the Network provide the necessary infrastructure to improve bioinformatics research in Scotland.

Modern biological research generates large amounts of data. This data needs to be analysed to enable treatments for common diseases, such as diabetes and cancer as well as crop and animal diseases, to be developed. Bioinformatics brings together skills in computing, mathematics, statistics and biology to allow this analysis to happen. SBRN will act as a hub, combining bioinformatics groups at Scotland's universities and research institutes, to advance the development of bioinformatics research and the biological research that it supports.

Roger McClure, Chief Executive of SHEFC said of the funding award: "By providing this funding we aim to help the Network build on the country's existing bioinformatics research strengths and become a world-leader in this area of research.

"I am pleased that this, along with other projects funded under our Strategic Research Development Grant, is another example of strategic partnership between universities. It reinforces the growing importance of collaboration and shared knowledge in the HE sector."

Janet Brown, Senior Director, Competitive Business and Clusters at Scottish Enterprise, added: "The Scottish Life Sciences sector is an exciting area of growth and funding like this, which will be used to strengthen the existing infrastructure, can have a significant multiplier effect.
 

"By sharing expertise, Scottish organisations will be able to capitalise more effectively on the joint creativity of our scientists, statisticians and IT professionals. The whole Life Sciences industry benefits from the sharing of
inter-disciplinary expertise."

Jim Wallace, Deputy First Minister and Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning concluded: "This is an exciting project in which we are investing a significant amount of money. This work could have far-reaching benefits for human health and agriculture in the years ahead. By working together, I am sure that Scotland's universities and research institutes can lead the world in this field. If this project is as successful as we expect then it will be a
win-win situation which will help in the development of new treatments and there will also be economic gains for Scotland".
 

Ends
 

For further information, please contact:

SHEFC, Communications branch, phone: 0131 313 6500 or email: communications@sfc.ac.uk

Paul Geoghan, Scottish Executive Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department, Chief Press Officer, phone: 0131 244 5222, email: paul.geoghan@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Marjorie Calder, the BIG partnersh

Funder contributions

2004-05
 

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

Totals

SHEFC

568,007

461,840

328,010

222,143

1,580,000

SEERAD

206,993

172,160

127,990

92,857

600,000

Scottish Enterprise

60,000

60,000

60,000

60,000

240,000

Total

£835,000

£694,000

£516,000

£375,000

£2,420,000

ip, (PR contractor to Scottish Enterprise), phone:0141 333 9585, email: marjorie@bigpartnership.co.uk

Angela Durcan, Press Officer, University of Dundee, phone: 01382 344768, email: a.durcan@dundee.ac.uk

Notes to editors:

  • SBRN comprises the Universities of Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, the Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI), Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland (BIOSS) and the Scottish Bioinformatics Forum. The Scottish Bioinformatics Forum is a virtual organisation lead by a small steering group bringing together researchers and customers of bioinformatics across Scotland.
  • The contributions of each funder is broken down as follows:

  • In addition to the above, the three universities have contributed £ 420,000 of their own funds.
  • The funding from SHEFC has been awarded under its Strategic Research Development Grant (SRDG). The purpose of the SRDG is to: strengthen areas of academic research that are of importance to Scotland, but do not receive funding or major levels of funding; and create opportunities to bring together existing strengths to continue to improve research quality and resources.

    For details of other SRDG awards, go to http://www.shefc.ac.uk/library/06854fc203db2fbd000000f6d2acfa8d/prhe0703.html
  • SEERAD is co-funding this project as part of its programme of Agricultural, Biological and Related Research. More information on the SEERAD research programme can be found at www.scotland.gov.uk/abrg
     
  • The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) is a non-departmental public body, funded by the Scottish Executive, which supports the maintenance and further development of Scottish higher education institutions. SHEFC distributes more than £800 million each year of public money to 20 higher education institutions (HEIs) in Scotland for teaching and research.

    The Council:
     
    • · encourages HEIs to pursue quality improvement, to build on their distinctive strengths in teaching and research, and to promote diversity and collaboration;
    • · helps the higher education sector to address the needs of students, employers and society;
    • · works towards equal opportunity of access; and
    • · works towards achieving value for public money and securing accountability.

  • For further information please visit www.shefc.ac.uk
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This site was last updated: Friday, 22 May, 2009

Geoff Barton, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Research, University of Dundee, Scotland