Thursday, March 8, 2012

February news: Miscellaneous

Funding secured for NIAB Innovation Farm



NIAB Innovation Farm has been awarded a £2.7 million grant from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), with additional match-funding coming from industry and academic partners, including CPPS.

The new funding will help develop an interactive commercial hub linking science and industry, highlighting developments in plant research and transferring market ready innovations into commercial reality as rapidly as possible. The project will also benefit from the building of new glasshouse and sustainable low-carbon visitor centre.

The ERDF funding aims to improve productivity in the East of England, by supporting industry, especially small to medium enterprises to move innovation forward in the market place and by improving links between companies which in turn will create and safeguard jobs.

NIAB Innovation Farm will continue to demonstrate the power of plant genetic innovation through field and glasshouse exhibits and a range of events held throughout the year. Visit www.innovationfarm.co.uk for more information.


Bioenergy Research at Cambridge / Rothamsted Research:



Breeding better grasses for food and fuel

Researchers from the BBSRC Sustainable Bioenergy Centre (BSBEC) have discovered a family of genes that are important in the development of the fibrous, woody parts of grasses. This could help us breed grasses with improved properties for diet and bioenergy. The research was carried out by a team from the University of Cambridge and Rothamsted Research headed by Paul Dupree, Biochemistry Cambridge, and Rowan Mitchell, Plant Science RRes. For more information click here.

Invitation to nominate speakers for future CPPS Lectures



CPPS Lectures, such as that delivered by Prof Julian Ma last Thu on ‘Molecular Pharming’, are an excellent way for CPPS members from academia and industry to build further links and network. The process for choosing next year’s speakers is under way – all of you are invited to nominate speakers and topics which are of particular interest to you. Please email bgs21@cam.ac.uk with any suggestions in the next few weeks.


International workshop 2nd May, Edinburgh



The Biosciences KTN is organizing an International Workshop ‘Advanced breeding programmes for suitable crop and livestock production’ which will be held on May 2nd at The Roslin Institute, Edinburgh. This workshop will bring together leading international animal breeding companies and academic scientists to discuss research challenges and recent advances in high-throughput genomic technologies in animal and plant breeding.

Registration for the workshop is now open. For further information please follow this link: http://advanced-breeding-workshop.eventbrite.co.uk.


Five BBSRC Industrial CASE PhD Studentships via Biosciences KTN



Biosciences KTN has secured five CASE studentships to start in academic year 2012/13 which will be allocated out across the Food, Industrial Bioscience and Plants and Crops Sectors. This call is only open to registered members of the Biosciences KTN _connect website. The competition scope encompasses any original research project in the field of bioscience relevant to the BBSRC's strategic priorities.

CASE (Co-operative Awards in Science and Engineering) studentships involve post-graduate students studying for a PhD through research with both an academic institution and a commercial company.

The deadline for applications is Midnight 30th March 2012. Successful applicants will be notified of the outcome of their applications by Wednesday 9th May and the student would need to start anytime in the 2012/13 academic year.

How to access the call document on the Biosciences KTN website

Register/log on to the website to access the call documents and application forms by clicking on www.innovateuk.org/biosciencesktn.
Once logged in, go to the "Groups" tab and select the "Biosciences KTN Industrial CASE Awards" group and click "Join this group".
To access the call document, please go to the Document Library.

If you have any events, news or advertisements you would like to see included please email bgs21@cam.ac.uk.

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