The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) has today announced over £6 million in funding to the University of Aberdeen from the Science Research Investment Fund (SRIF).
The £6.2 million funding for Aberdeen is a contribution towards the infrastructure and associated facilities for the key strategic developments in the Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences – the Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS) and the Institute of Applied Health Sciences (IAHS).
Both Institutes will create focussed and relevant research initiatives that will facilitate linkages between selected areas of research spanning from molecules to man. The SHEFC funding contribution will enable the University to proceed immediately with its building and refurbishment plans for the medical campus on the Foresterhill site.
Phase 2 of the IMS has been awarded over £5 million to the current £18 million development. The Institute of Applied Sciences has also been awarded £1 million.
Principal C Duncan Rice, University of Aberdeen, said that he was delighted that Aberdeen’s bids had been supported in this latest round of SHEFC funding.
“Winning these awards clearly demonstrates that the quality of research at our University is being recognised in the best possible way - by funding its continual improvement. This is an enormous boost to our research activities and will enable us to maintain and indeed enhance our leading position in international medical and technological research. The funding will benefit a number of high profile research projects, particularly in the medical field, including the construction of Phase 2 of the IMS.”
Phase 2 will raise the capacity of the IMS to over 400 staff and will provide state-of the-art laboratory and technological facilities for major research groupings in bone disease, ophthalmology, immunology, microbiology, neuroscience and molecular endocrinology.
Professor S D Logan, Provost and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences said: “The IMS is a perfect example of how the research capability of Scottish universities will address the long-term needs of society. Through its research into the management of diseases and their biomedical solutions, the IMS will play a vital role in the fight against the major diseases of the developed world. IMS researchers will advance research into conditions such as osteoporosis, diabetes, cancer, obesity and hypertension, as well as multiple sclerosis and a range of other autoimmune diseases affecting the eye and the kidney. This focussed mass of scientists will have a pivotal role in developing relevant research programmes and biotechnology for the 21st Century.”
The funding from SHEFC for the IAHS will enable the University to refurbish space within the Medical School so that population-based researchers in the Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences will be located together for the first time.
In recent years, the integrated activities of key researchers involved in different areas of clinical and applied health services research have resulted in the creation of the IAHS. The refurbished space will provide the Institute with sufficient accommodation and physical infrastructure for its multidisciplinary teams of researchers undertaking population-based research.
IAHS research teams comprise of epidemiologists, health services researchers, health economistsand clinicians specialising in respiratory, renal and cardiovascular disease, reproductive and mental health and common symptoms in the community. The Institute seeks to improve healthcare by providing a robust scientific platform for understanding the determinants of health and health problems and for evaluating the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of healthcare and health technologies.
The ultimate aim of the Institute is to improve the quality of healthcare – in both the national and international arenas.