Capital letters bring multi-million pound joy to UK universities
16 October 2008
Launched in 2007 to follow the successful Joint Infrastructure and Science Research Innovation Fund partnerships, the Capital Awards provide funding of over £1 million to successful applicants for large scale projects - either new builds or refurbishments - in partnership with the host institution. The scheme is intended to facilitate leading-edge biomedical research that would not otherwise have been possible.
Universities from across the UK - from Exeter to St Andrews, London to Liverpool - have received awards of between £1.1 million and £6 million under the scheme.
"Researchers need the best facilities and most up-to-date technology in order to carry out world class research," says Dr Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust. "The Capital Awards will provide the necessary infrastructure for some of the best scientists in the UK."
Professor Ed Watkins at the Mood Disorders Centre, University of Exeter has received £3.6 million for a new translational research facility aimed at improving psychological interventions for mood and personality disorders, such as depression and bipolar disorder.
"This support will directly enhance our ability to improve psychological treatments for mood disorders, which are highly prevalent and cause considerable distress, disability, and economic burden," says Professor Watkins.
"It will provide state-of-the art laboratory facilities to study the underlying psychological mechanisms and inform the development of more targeted and effective therapies. It will also provide a purpose-built treatment centre, allowing us to conduct clinical trials to determine which of these new treatments work best and to further improve existing treatments."
Professor Irene Leigh at the University of Dundee is the recipient of £3.5 million to develop a Centre for Molecular Medicine. The centre, to be based at Ninewells Hospital, will operate at the interface between basic and clinical science and will be sited on the top floor of the university's recently opened Clinical Research Centre. The award complements recent funding success for the university including the new Wellcome Trust Centre for Gene Regulation and Expression.
"This is a key grant for us in that it allows us to build another link in the chain of excellence in Dundee leading from laboratory-based research to clinical practice," says Professor Leigh. "This area of translational medicine is increasingly important and the support of the Wellcome Trust in establishing this Centre for Molecular Medicine only adds to our capability to deliver exciting results."
The other recipients of the Capital Awards are:
Recipient: Professor Brian Sutton, King's College London
Award: £1.7 million
Title of project: Centre for Biomolecular Spectroscopy
Recipient: Professor Jennifer Kirkham, University of Leeds
Award: £1.1 million
Title of project: Clinical and translational research unit at Leeds Dental Institute
Recipient: Professor Mike Barer, University of Leicester
Award: £3.9 million
Title of project: Faculty of Medicine and Biological Sciences Central Research Facility
Recipient: Professor Janet Hemingway, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
Award: £2 million
Title of project: Fourth floor of new centre for tropical infectious disease; refurbishment of part of the existing LSTM building
Recipient: Professor Jeff Errington, University of Newcastle
Award: £6 million
Title of project: Bacterial Cell Biology Building
Recipient: Professor Nicholas Rawlins, University of Oxford
Award: £2.1 million
Title of project: Divisional Centre for Behavioural and Systems Neuroscience
Recipient: Professor James Naismith, University of St. Andrews
Award: £5 million
Title of project: Biomedical Sciences Research Complex
Contact
Craig Brierley
Media Officer
Wellcome Trust
T +44 (0)20 7611 7329
E
c.brierley@wellcome.ac.uk
Notes for editors
1. The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity in the UK. It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending over £600 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and wellbeing.