Innovative research collaborations initiated via European Crucible 2021

Innovative research collaborations initiated via European Crucible 2021

European Crucible 2021 Luxembourg collaborator and host, Prof Stéphane Bordas, at the University of Luxembourg, Belval Campus.

The European Crucible 2021 programme has culminated in the selection of 7 collaborative research projects for funding support from the Scottish Funding Council, Luxembourg National Research Fund, and SUPA (Scottish Universities Physics Alliance).

The awards go to multi-disciplinary teams of researchers who had each won a place on the inaugural European Crucible leadership programme that ran virtually in spring 2021.* The successful project proposals will be undertaken over the next year by groups of European Crucible Alumni from 11 European countries, as follows:

European Crucible 2021 – selected research projects and location of research team members:

1. Developing New Tools for Evaluating Nanoscale Biological Interactions – Scotland, Czech Republic, France, Netherlands, Portugal

• Enhancing young people’s use of Green and Blue spaces: a Public and Patient Involvement Study – Scotland, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Spain

• MYinsulin: Low-Cost, Sustainable and Resilient Insulin Supply Alternatives to Benefit Low and Lower-Middle Income Communities – Scotland, France, Luxembourg, Norway and Switzerland

• Nanostructure-Enhanced Gallium Oxide UV Photodetectors for In-Situ Water Quality Monitoring – Scotland, France and Luxembourg

• ROBOCAT – Robotic Assisted Discovery of CO₂ Reduction Catalysts – Scotland and France

• Stakeholder Engagement Activities to Inform an Intervention to Support People Released from Prison Achieve Good Health and Social Outcomes – Scotland, Netherlands and Norway

• Transperceptual Approach to Uncovering the Secrets of Biological Tissues – Focus on the Knee Meniscus – Scotland, England and Luxembourg

European Crucible 2021 was organised in partnership between i) the Scottish Crucible team of the Research Futures Academy (Heriot-Watt University); ii) ‘SUPA’ on behalf of the network of Scottish Research Pools and iii) the University of Luxembourg.  The key Luxembourg host and collaborator was Prof Stéphane Bordas, Legato Team Leader, who coordinated the engagement of Luxembourg-based institutions and researchers with the virtual programme: Partners – Scottish Crucible

Prof Bordas said, “Several years of productive collaboration with Scotland led to this first European Crucible, an exceptional multi-disciplinary event, supported by all Luxembourg Research Institutes. As a participant of the first Scottish Crucible, I could feel the palpable excitement of our European Cruciblists, who intellectually bridged all disciplinary and national boundaries. These young and dynamic researchers all embodied the strong European feeling which Luxembourg and Scotland share”.

And commenting on the success of European Crucible 2021 in building interdisciplinary research collaborations, Dr Ruth Neiland, Head of the Research Futures Academy and Scottish Crucible Director, said “Many congratulations to all of our European Crucible 2021 teams on their highly innovative and interdisciplinary proposals! We look forward to seeing how these collaborations develop – and the impact they can have in tackling scientific and societal challenges for Europe and beyond.”

Further details
EuropeanCrucible@hw.ac.uk
Research Futures Academy
Heriot-Watt University

*Note on European Crucible participants

25 early and mid-career researchers from Scotland’s universities and research institutes were competitively selected to take part in European Crucible 2021 (from the universities of Abertay, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Napier, St Andrews, Stirling and Strathclyde; and James Hutton Institute, SAMS, and NHS Tayside):  https://scottishcrucible.org.uk/european-crucible/scottish-cohort/

They were joined by 25 equivalent researchers from 13 other European countries (Belgium, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland):  https://scottishcrucible.org.uk/european-crucible/european-cohort/