Bridging The Gaps Publication

BRIDGING THE GAPS > 1

BRIDGING
THE
GAPS
WITH GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM
BRIDGING THE GAPS > 4 BRIDGING THE GAPS > 5
6 Foreword Anticipating a Festival of Ideas
8 Foreword Effecting a Fundamental Change
10 Bridging the Gaps An Introduction
12 BTG Success in Numbers

14 The Shape of Things to Come how BTG has Shaped the Research Environment
19 Festival of Research
22 Every Picture Tells a Story Swanseas Research as Art competition
26 Case Study Cyberterrorism: A Multidisciplinary Perspective
28 Case Study Translation Arrays Version, Variation, Visualisation Phase 2
32 Noted & Quoted BTG in the Media and Press
34 Multidisciplinary Science & Technology Working at the Boundaries Without
Falling Through the Cracks
36 College Collaborations
38 Case Study Communicative Proling of Online Sex Offenders
40 Leading a Project for the First Time
CONTENTS
Produced by Andrea Buck, BTG Programme Manager; Rhian Morris, BTG Programme Ofcer,
Chris Marshall and Amy Rowland in The Planning & Strategic Projects
Design, Rhianna Hatcher and Leah Williams at Waters Creative
Images, James Davies at James Davies Photography
If you are inspired by the researchers and the research in this publication, please contact Andrea Buck in the rst
instance: a.j.buck@swansea.ac.uk, +44 (0)1792 606669
Swansea University is a registered charity No 1138342
CONTENTS
44 Case Study Clots From Crabs: Can Factors from Invertebrates Act as Blood
Clotting Agents For Human Blood?
46 Case Study Analysis of the Attributes of Archers Using Human Remains from
the Mary Rose Warship
48 Talking Heads Perspectives on Interdisciplinary Research
54 International Collaborations & Global Reach
56 Case Study Advanced Piezoelectric Biosensors and Hollowed Microneedle
for Blood Sampling and Drug Delivery Application
58 Case Study Establishing a Networks Research Group at Swansea University
60 Case Study Tully Meetings Saving the NHS with Good I.T.
62 BTGs Legacy: Setting a New Vision
65 BTG External Collaborators
66 BTG Awards
70 BTG Steering Group and Team
74 Contact Details
FOREWORD
Bridging the Gaps (BTG) is a story of three
parts. It was an idea that attracted almost
1 million of Research Council funding into
the University; it was a project to share that
money in the University to bridge gaps across
disciplines; and it remains an active vision
to transform how we think about working
together and growing as a powerful,
research-led University.
The key idea behind getting the funding was that
exciting things can happen from the grassroots
up. Swansea University is full of fantastic ideas
that need support, nurturing and celebrating. BTG
anticipated a festival of ideas waiting to happen.
Many researchers turn their focus outwards
and their research then becomes invisible to
their colleagues, if not just within departments
then certainly further across the wider University
community. Key, then, to the original proposal
was the intent to provide structures to encourage
the unexpected, and to help new ideas grow
across the University. This is quite a departure
from the usual high-level, top-down, pre-planned
safe research planning! In fact, compared
to many other BTG projects across the UK that
were funded, we were distinctive in not having a
pre-planned research agenda. We did t want to
research in preconceived elds, but instead we
wanted to create a culture where new research
and new research networks would grow.
Universities often feel they do not have enough
money, and it is easy to think that researchers
with less resource deserve more. This is scarcity
thinking. Instead, BTG brought a stream of
fresh money into the University and we decided
right away to allocate it to the most promising
projects. Moreover, we decided to do so in an
open way, relying on colleagues as referees to
help assess quality and promise. Not only did
referees learn about what was going on, people
proposing ideas to be funded tried harder to
think through and explain their ideas so referees
could see how they would work. And they did
work. For every 1 we spent on projects, the
University has already gained more than 6 in
new external funding.
We did not fund anything that did not have
a proposal; this is the same as saying we did
not fund anything that had no serious thinking
behind it. For the cost of writing a few words in
a proposal we transformed attitudes to funding,
and for some people it quickly helped them over
the rst hurdle of writing external grant proposals.
But BTG was not about funding, although this
is an obvious proxy for research health. BTG
was and is about building visible and
effective research celebrations across disciplines.
This publication is a written festival, sampling
the diversity of the things that were and are
being achieved. Ideas range from supporting
the Richard Burton Diaries to the Research as
Art competition which rapidly went from an
internal idea to a national phenomenon. These
two examples, out of many, exemplify the BTG
philosophy: think it through, get it funded, make
it visible, share the excitement, and (as the
shampoo instructions say) repeat.
The Research Council funding has now come
to an end, and the BTG story aligns now to the
future. What have we learnt from our successes
and failures to help ensure the University
grows its research? Weve learnt that working
together, building bridges between researchers
often challenging traditional departmental
boundaries has a phenomenal effect. It allows
a small University to demonstrate it is agile and
responsive to the needs of society, despite the
economic gloom. It shows in the simplest terms
that investing in the BTG vision not only helps
address the profound physical, economic and
social challenges that lie ahead, but it also
creates and afrms a powerful community of
effective researchers.
Our challenge is to embed this successful
approach across all aspects of our research
activity. Anybody reading this wonderful
publication should think about how they can be
inspired from the vast range of accomplishments
represented here and, in particular, by the open
processes that turned ideas into vibrant activities
that continue to expand our horizons in such
varied and worthwhile ways.

Professor Harold Thimbleby CEng FIET FRCPE
FLSW HonFRSA HonFRCP
Principal Investigator for Bridging the Gaps
ANTICIPATING A
FESTIVAL OF IDEAS
Effecting a fundamental change in the research
culture of a university is no easy task. But that
was the ambition of Swansea Universitys
EPSRC-funded Bridging the Gaps Programme.
The objective was simple: to break down
discipline boundaries and to embed an inter-
disciplinary consciousness across the research
community. In this it has been remarkably
successful. The conversations it has started and
the interdisciplinary projects it has incentivised
and underpinned have made a real difference to
the way in which colleagues within the University
think about their research and their willingness to
develop and articulate new analytical and critical
perspectives, and to see the world and the
challenges it presents in radically different ways.
Above all it has persuaded many colleagues that
to tackle the big and the interesting questions; to
meet the grand challenges that confront society
in the twenty-rst century; to have something
important to say about these and to contribute
to their resolution, researchers must engage with
colleagues from other disciplines. And this will
be the lasting legacy of Bridging the Gaps in
Swansea: a large and growing cohort of active
researchers who because they have transcended
disciplinary divides will never view the world and
seek to understand it in quite the same way ever
again.
Professor Noel Thompson
Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research
FOREWORD
EFFECTING A
FUNDAMENTAL
CHANGE
BRIDGING THE GAPS
Swansea University received the largest single grant
of all the university programmes supported, and is the
only institution in Wales have received BTG funding
Rarely can the worlds major problems and challenges
be solved by any one approach or academic
discipline. Multidisciplinary perspectives and expertise
can question conventional thinking, underpin academic
rigour and lead to new and novel approaches borne at
the interface between traditional disciplines.
But how do you encourage researchers to bridge the
gaps between disciplines and work together creatively?
In 2006 the Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC) launched a new initiative
as part of its Cross-Disciplinary Interfaces Programme
(C-DIP), called Bridging the Gaps (BTG). During the next
four years EPSRC invested 10.5 million supporting
23 BTG programmes at universities throughout the UK,
including 987,801 at Swansea University.
Swansea University received the largest single grant of
all the university programmes supported, and is the only
institution in Wales to have received BTG funding.
BTG set out to enable research organisations to build
a programme of new activities that would stimulate
creative thinking across academic disciplines (especially
between engineering and physical sciences (EPS)
and non-EPS research areas), and reect institutional
strengths and strategies.
Principal Objectives:
Initiate new, long-term collaborations between
researchers across the EPSRC remit and beyond;
Stimulate innovative approaches to collaboration
between disciplines;
Increase the cross-fertilisation of ideas and the take
up of advances across the boundaries between
disciplines;
Enable the Research Organisation to encourage and
embed multidisciplinary research between
departments and alleviate barriers to collaboration.
(BTG Fourth Call for Proposals, 2010)
BRIDGING THE GAPS
Swansea University BTG programme
Swanseas programme launched in September 2010
and ran for three years. Our vision for Bridging the Gaps
was ambitious. We set out to:
Transform Swansea Universitys ethos towards cross-
disciplinary research and innovation, in a monitored
programme that empowers researchers and raises
expectations;
Dismantle institutional and cultural barriers to cross-
disciplinary work, to leave a legacy that bridges social
sciences, arts, humanities and engineering and
physical sciences gaps;
Generate balanced aspiration between diverse
groups of researchers, through project-specic
supported activities, contact time and mentoring;
Emphasise research sustainability, both nancially
through stimulating further funding and, intellectually
through learning about, appreciating and challenging
contrasting disciplinary cultures;
Manage effectively and creatively many innovative
projects to very high standards, delivering a
proven model for sustainable institutional research
empowerment;
Leave a record of evaluation and monitoring, website,
art and disciplinary research outputs and other
activities that can be reused and will contribute to
future learning and sustainability within and beyond
the University.
Through a comprehensive portfolio of opportunities
which included funding, workshops, support for grant
writing, seminars, lectures, sandpits, coaching, toolkits,
competitions, an artist in residence programme and
launching a festival of research, Swanseas BTG
programme encouraged, facilitated and supported
research collaborations which delivered many different
types of results.
This publication highlights the breadth of Swanseas
BTG programme and celebrates its transformative
achievements.
Howard Ingham: BTG Artist in Residence
BTG SUCCESS IN NUMBERS
103 grant applications for external
funding 19,625,574
32 external grant applications
funded 2,184,411
BTG SUCCESS IN NUMBERS
338,979 spent supporting 73
projects on campus
MORE THAN 3,000
For every 1 BTG has
spent funding projects,
the University has received
6.44 in grant capture.
196 NEW COLLABORATIONS INITIATED
41 WITH NATIONAL PARTNERS & 18 WITH INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS
NATIONAL AND
INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCES ATTENDED
205 APPLICATIONS FOR BTG FUNDING
73 BTG PROJECTS SUPPORTED
27 LED BY EARLY CAREER RESEARCHERS
35 ACADEMIC
PAPERS WRITTEN
AND PUBLISHED
BTG PROJECTS
EXTERNAL GRANT APPLICATIONS & FUNDING COLLABORATIONS
CONFERENCES & ACADEMIC PAPERS
PEOPLE DIRECTLY ENGAGED WITH BTG
0 196
46
THE SHAPE OF
THINGS TO COME
How do you go about creating and shaping a culture change? How do you encourage
and support researchers to consider working with new people, disciplines, lexicons and
methodologies?
BTG created a diverse programme of activities, events and support and, together with
researchers who shared a passion for interdisciplinary working, set about demonstrating the
many and varied ways collaboration could take place.
BTG Funding, Proposal Writing
Skills and Peer Review Practice
BTG launched two funds: the
BTG Bridging Fund, which made
small, ad-hoc awards of up to
500, and the BTG Escalator
Fund, which had two structured
calls a year and involved a simple
and comprehensive application
procedure and peer review process.
The Escalator Fund, in particular,
became more and more popular as
time progressed. In total it received
205 applications and 73 were
selected for support.
The Escalator Fund was structured
into three levels to encourage people
to return to it for additional funding
over time: Pilot (to create or pilot
and idea); Escalate (to explore
or escalate a theory or project),
and Impact (to provide funds for a
well developed initiative to create
impact).
BTG offered support in crafting
applications and anyone who
wanted it was offered feedback
about their proposal, once the
review panel had made its
decisions. In addition, researchers
were encouraged to rene and
re-submit their proposals. An
integral aspect of the Escalator
Fund was its approach to peer
review. As reviewing and evaluating
interdisciplinary projects is difcult,
BTG developed a structured peer
review system (and pro-forma to
guide reviewers in what to look for
and how to evaluate). This involved
everyone who had submitted a
bid to the call (together with other
researchers who expressed an
interest in developing their peer
review experience and skills). This
unique aspect to the BTG Escalator
Fund gave many researchers not
only their rst opportunity for peer
review but also for peer reviewing
interdisciplinary projects. It proved
immensely successful.
BTG is an excellent scheme:
Developing early career
researchers ability to write
proposals, enabling them to be
principal investigators and giving
them experience of peer reviewing
proposals.
Dr Ian Mabbett, Technology
Transfer Fellow, SPECIFIC
Grant Writing Support
Some of BTGs support focussed
upon providing and reinforcing
an underpinning structure to the
Universitys interdisciplinary research
community. Through the appointment
of a dedicated resource based in
the Planning and Strategic Projects
Unit, BTG was able to provide
support for 20 complex, large-scale
interdisciplinary grant applications.
Support extended to writing business
cases, organising mock interview
panels, attending brieng meetings,
convening academics, and writing
and editing cases for support. In
total, the work supported by this
resource yielded 30 million of
grant capture for the University.
BTG has also supported researchers
to respond to other large or
prestigious calls. In 2011 BTG
funded a two-day exploration
and bid-writing retreat to enable
a collaborative response to be
submitted to the Leverhulme Trusts
call for Value. This model proved
very successful in supporting the
early development of the bid-writing
process and is something which has
been repeated on varying scales
throughout the duration of the BTG
programme.
Preparing a Media Prole
Support for early career researchers
was an integral strand of the BTG
programme and was initially
THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME
achieved through the development
of a Researchers Media Toolkit, an
easy to use repository of information
to help researchers think about
and develop their online presence
as well as providing guidance
on how to interact with different
strands of the media and how to
prepare for an interview. Launched
in the autumn of 2012, the toolkit
was sent to every researcher in the
University, and has been enhanced
through bespoke training, delivered
in collaboration with the Universitys
researcher and staff development
team and the Universitys public
relations ofce.
Swansea University Research
Forum (SURF)
SURF is a growing community
of more than 90 Fellows, drawn
from across all Colleges and
disciplines in the University. Through
active engagement with issues
affecting the research community,
SURF members are committed to
enhancing the research environment
and to encouraging interdisciplinary
networking. BTG has worked closely
with SURF and has supported
a number of aspects of SURFs
innovative and active programme;
including its bi-lingual seminar series,
researchers coaching scheme
and Research as Art competition.
Without SURF there would not have
been BTG, for many of those on
its board and within its community
were responsible for developing
the EPSRC Bridging the Gaps
proposal and continue to take
forward aspects of the BTG/SURF
collaborations to perpetuate BTGs
legacy.
SURF Researchers Coaching Scheme
BTG supported other collaborative partnerships,
such as the SURF Researchers Coaching
Scheme. During three years the scheme has
involved 95 researchers from across all the
Colleges within the University. Many who
begin the scheme being coached end up as
coaches, said Dr Amy Brown, the schemes
organiser. We have had involvement from all
career stages: from junior researchers through
to professors. This includes both coaches and
those being coached. When matching pairs we
ensure that hierarchy is never considered; we
have had several lecturers coach professors.
The scheme has been invaluable in changing
and shaping the culture of the research
community. It gives people the time and space
to concentrate on their research and think about
where its going. It feels almost selsh and
self-centred at rst, to sit and talk about yourself
but its like therapy it helps you move forward
and certainly is worth its weight in gold. Having
someone constructively challenge you and be
involved in your targets is also really effective!
It reignites enthusiasm too, because someone
shows interest and spends time with you talking
about your research, said Amy.
Welsh Crucible
Each year 30 of Wales most talented early
career researchers are given the opportunity
to participate in Welsh Crucible, a pan-Wales
leadership development programme. Funded by
the St Davids Day Group of Universities and the
Higher Education Funding Council for Wales
(HEFCW), the programme will, in 2014, enter
its fourth year. The Swansea element of the
programme is led and coordinated by BTG.
Central to this unique programme is the aim
of driving and facilitating interdisciplinary
research between Welsh universities and
raising innovative capabilities that tackle
major challenges to society. At its core, the
programme provides a unique collision
space for researchers committed and open
to interdisciplinary research and innovation, to
interact and make new connections with a view
to leading future research collaborations, said
Professor Peter Halligan, Chair of the Welsh
Crucible Steering Group and Dean of Strategic
Futures and Interdisciplinary Studies at Cardiff
University.
Welsh Crucible was the winner of the
Outstanding Contribution to Leadership
Development category at the 2013 Times
Higher Awards. Andrea Buck, BTG Programme
Manager and Swansea University Welsh
Crucible Champion said: Welsh Crucible is a
transformative experience. As its name implies,
it is a force for positive and lasting change.
The ever-developing programme challenges
misconceptions about undertaking collaborative
and interdisciplinary research, creates a
dynamic environment in which researchers are
immersed in and exposed to new experiences,
perspectives and skills, all of which are
enhanced through a series of creative and,
sometimes, unusual activities and speakers.
Seventeen researchers from Swansea
University have completed the Welsh Crucible
programme:
Drs Richard Coffey, Parisa Eslambolchilar,
Antonio Gil, Gabriela Jiga-Boy, Richard
Johnston, Lijie Li, Raoul Van Loon, Pavel Loskot,
Aditee Mitra, Sarah Rogers, Sophie Schirmer,
Rubn Sevilla, Kar Seng Teng, Pamela
Ugwudike, Clare Wood and Professors Yogesh
Dwivedi and Niels Madsen.
Unexpected Collaborations: BTG Artists in
Residence
Artists are stimulated and inspired by new
and different environments, people, social
and economic contexts and their interaction
with and interpretation of these can bring new
dimensions not only to their own work but also
to the way researchers explore and undertake
interdisciplinary activity.
Under the title Unexpected Collaborations,
BTG launched Swansea Universitys rst Artist
in Residence programme in 2011. With
more than 30 applications received from a
broad range of artistic disciplines two artists
were appointed, each with a 15,000
grant: Howard David Ingham, a writer and
performance poet and Fern Thomas, an
interdisciplinary artist.
Fern and Howard spent several months
working with a variety of researchers and
research groups including Dr Ian Masters of
the Marine Energy Research Group, Professor
FERN CREATED THE INSTITUTE FOR
IMAGINED FUTURES & UNKNOWN
LANDS; A TIME-TRAVELLING RESEARCH
UNIT ESTABLISHED TO EXPLORE WHAT
IT IS LIKE TO LOOK AT THE WORLD
FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES,
INCLUDING THE FUTURE

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME
Fern Thomas: BTG Artist in Residence
FESTIVAL OF RESEARCH
Heaven Crawley of the Centre for Migration Policy
Research, the department of Computer Sciences Future
Interaction Technologies (FIT) Lab, the Cyberterrorism
Project and Dr Dan Foreman of the Conservation
Ecology Research Team (CERT).
Fern created the Institute for Imagined Futures &
Unknown Lands; a time-travelling research unit
established to explore what it is like to look at the
world from different perspectives, including the
future. She encouraged researchers to consider and
contemplate the most signicant representations of
research necessary for the benet of the future.
Through workshops, drop-in sessions, structured
interviews and attending lectures Fern and Howard
delivered a variety of activities and engagements.
Fern, for instance, through working with the
Cyberterrorism Project collaborated on an entry for
the 2013 Research as Art Competition, Splashes and
Waves, Ripples and Spills, a competition runner-up.
She worked closely with Professor Vanessa Burholt
in the Centre for Innovative Ageing and Maria
Cheshire-Allen on the Coming of Age exhibition,
supported by BTG and staged at Swansea University
during the spring of 2013. Howard created a series
of poems and reections upon his conversations and
collaborations and delivered several performances,
including Scale and The Reason You Cant Be Happy.
The experience of being the BTG Artist in Residence
has been both challenging and rewarding, said Fern.
To qualify an artistic outcome is not easy. Sometimes
outcomes are invisible and that prospect is exciting
for me. The core outcomes are found within the
conversations between artist and researcher that would
not otherwise have been had and that now continue to
develop... I have made [some] signicant connections
with researchers many of whom have a real resonance
with my practice and will act as a source of dialogue
and resource for my work in the future. It has been a
worthwhile residency forming new connections and
informing my practice on a new level.
For more information about Fern and Howard and
their residency, please go to
www.imaginedfuturesunknownlands.org/blog
www.landscapesproject.tumblr.com
These together with the Festival of Research and
Research as Art on the following pages are just a
few examples of how BTG has endeavoured to
stimulate the Swansea University research community,
encourage it to consider new collaborations and
opportunities and to support it through the process of
change.
From the effects of climate change
to the needs and aspirations of an
ageing population, the complex
fabric of life in the twenty-rst
century faces many challenges and
opportunities. Addressing them
requires research that crosses the
boundaries between the scientic
and technical, the political, cultural
and social. In turn, this requires
fresh thinking and new modes of
connection and communication
that can be encouraged through
interdisciplinary research.
In 2011 BTG launched Swansea
Universitys rst Festival of Research,
a stage from which to showcase
the breadth and excellence of
Swansea's research and utilise
best practice examples to stimulate
new ideas and collaborations
amongst the research community.
Through lectures, demonstrations,
tours, discussions, exhibitions
and competitions, the festival has
engaged with more than 2,000
people, many of them members of
the local community keen to discover
the expertise which exists on their
doorstep.
The festival has attracted eminent
speakers, including Marc Evans,
Hollywood lm director, Professor
John Harries, the former Chief
Scientic Advisor for Wales, and
Professor Andrew Blake, Laboratory
Director at Microsoft Research. It
staged the premiere of A GLIMPSE
of Greenland: The Disappearing
Ice, a lm documentary following
the eld research of a team of
Swansea University glaciologists
and included the launch of
Swanseas Research Institute for
Applied Social Science, which was
attended by Professor Paul Boyle,
Chief Executive of the Economic and
Social Research Council (ESRC).

Swansea University actively
encourages innovative
collaborative approaches to
interdisciplinary research. The
Festival of Research proudly
recognises what has already
been achieved, and allows us
to demonstrate and continue to
build momentum as one of the
UKs more ambitious, research-led
universities.
Professor Richard B Davies,
Vice Chancellor
www.swansea.ac.uk/festival-of-
research/
celebrating research excellence at Swansea
A GLIMPSE of Greenland
FESTIVAL OF RESEARCH
FESTIVAL OF RESEARCH THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME
Obama Lecture
FUTURE OF INTERDISCIPLINARY WORKING FESTIVAL FUTURE OF INTERDISCIPLINARY WORKING FESTIVAL OF RESEARCH
Through lectures, demonstrations, tours, discussions,
exhibitions and competitions, the festival has engaged
with more than 2,000 people
An evening with Marc Evans
Future Buildings
RIAH: Sports Panel
Science For Wales Strategy
HEFCW: Future of Research in Wales
Professor Andrew Blake
RESEARCH AS ART
In 2009 Dr Richard Johnston,
an active member of Swansea
University Research Forum (SURF),
launched an on-campus Research
as Art competition. Its main
aim was to facilitate a way for
researchers to communicate with the
public and other researchers through
an image and a short piece of
accessible text. I wanted to create
an opportunity for researchers to tell
their story, said Richard. Why they
do research and what it means and
feels like to be a researcher.
Since then the competition has gone
from strength to strength, attracting,
accumulatively, more than 250
entries and has been covered
by The Guardian, the BBC, Fox
News and NBC News. Several
researchers have been interviewed
about their Research as Art
submissions by Scientic American,
BBC Radio Wales, LiveScience,
Chemistry World, and for an EPSRC
feature. In addition an exhibition has
been developed which has been
displayed in the Royal Institution
in London, one of the worlds most
prestigious science communication
and research organisations. The
competition has also engaged a
distinguished panel of judges, which
has included:
Dr Gail Cardew Director of
Science and Education at the
Royal Institution, Vice-President of
Euroscience, Wellcome Collection
Advisory Panel, EPSRC Peer
Review College
Catherine Draycott Head of
Wellcome Images, the Wellcome
Collection
Flora Graham Digital Editor of
NewScientist.com, also worked
for BBC, CBC and CNET UK as
a writer and broadcaster
Kathleen Soriano Director of
Exhibitions, Royal Academy of
Arts
Professor Noel Thompson Pro-
Vice-Chancellor for Research at
Swansea University, Fellow of the
Royal Historical Society
Professor John Womersley
Research Councils UK Executive
Board, RCUK Champion for
Public Engagement with Research
and Chief Executive Ofcer of the
Science and Technology Facilities
Council (STFC)
I think its incredibly important that
researchers convey their research
in an accessible way, said
Richard. The usual line is that the
research is publically-funded and
the researchers have a responsibility
to communicate it but its much
more than that. If youre interested
in your own research, you want to
tell the world. You want people to
understand why you do it. And also,
its important that the human side of
research is communicated. Not just
the research that will affect humans,
but the humans that are doing the
research. Were not super-scientists
and Nobel-prize winners, were just
like our friends at school who made
different choices or had different
opportunities. If we can tell the
story, we will, hopefully, be in touch
with a public that is engaged with
research, that understands why we
do it, and a public that wants to be
involved with research.
A selection of images and their
abstracts feature throughout this
publication.
r.johnston@swansea.ac.uk
www.swansea.ac.uk/research/
surf/art-competition/
EVERY
PICTURE TELLS
A STORY...
The image is a 3D render of a ngerprint detected using a scanning Kelvin probe (SKP) from the surface of iron. Salt
left behind from a ngerprint initiates corrosion reactions that produce very small voltages (mV) that the SKP detects.
The height of each peak is a measure of the intensity of corrosion at that point. The advantage of this technique over
traditional ngerprinting methods is that ngerprints can be detected on bullets and bomb fragments after they have
been red whereas current ngerprint methods cannot. This has produced much interest from the home ofce, who
have funded the construction of a new SKP, and also the Israeli police force. 3D visualisation enables the data to be
examined in intricate detail. The technique has been developed by Dr G Williams and Prof. N McMurray with the
3D renders produced by Dr J Sullivan.
JAMES
SULLIVAN
College of Engineering
3D representation of a
ngerprint detected on Iron
using SKP
RESEARCH AS ART
MERIN BROUDIC AND TRACY DYSON
Marine Energy Research Group, College of Engineering
Old Faithful

Hydrophones, ow meters, pressure transducers all expensive, all delicate pieces of equipment, but without the old
battered torpedo weight to put them where they need to be they are all far less effective. Data collection for marine
turbines, turbulence analysis, speed and direction of currents, water temperature and salinity testing or the monitoring
of underwater noise would be so much more difcult and the results far less accurate without Old Faithful. Going
back to basics, tarnished by the sea and as battered as a salty sea dog, Old Faithful is roped into service year in
year out. Just dont try to take him on a plane in your hand luggage!
yberterrorism represents the
convergence of two of the four
highest priority risks to national
security identied by the UKs National
Security Strategy: international terrorism
and cybercrime. In June 2011 the UK
Government, as part of its UK Cyber
Security Strategy launched the National
Cyber Security Programme accompanied
by 650 million of new investment. In
2013 a new National Cyber Crime Unit
was established within the National Crime
Agency.
Our project emphasis, by bringing together
a range of presenters and participants from
around the globe, was to examine and
evaluate understandings of, and responses
to, cyberterrorism threat. There is growing
concern, not only about the possibility
of terrorists launching cyberattacks, but
also about the range of other activities
terrorists perform online (including planning,
communication, recruitment, propaganda,
training and fundraising). Possible responses
to these online activities need to be
assessed in terms of their effectiveness and
their social, political, ethical and legal
impacts. It is also necessary to assess how
terrorists activities in the cyber realm are
changing the structures, organisation, aims
and methods of terrorist organisations, and
explore the implications of these ndings
for the development of counterterrorism
strategies.
The projects emphasis upon interdisciplinary
work is important, since much of the
research in this eld to date has been
fragmented along traditional disciplinary
boundaries (particularly between the
social and physical sciences). Through our
website, workshop, publications and 2013
conference, which attracted speakers from
Israel, Sweden, Australia, Greece and the
United States, we emphasise the need for a
more dynamic exploration of the Internet/
terrorism nexus (the predominant approach
in existing research has been simply to
document terrorists online activities) and
the need for primary-source research (there
is a growing recognition among scholars
and practitioners that the counterterrorism
literature suffers from a lack of primary-
source research). Through our national
and international collaborations we have
discovered an enormous diversity of views
around cyberterrorism concerning not
only the signicance of the threat and
appropriate responses, but also what the
concept itself encompasses.
The level of interest the project has
generated both in the UK and overseas
surprised us. It has given rise to new
opportunities, such as collaboration with
the University of Massachusetts for a series
of research internships in their Center for
Terrorism & Security and an invitation to
present our work at NATOs Centre of
Excellence on Counterterrorism.
In addition to the support we had from BTG
we have also been successful in securing
additional funding from NATOs Public
Diplomacy Programme (4,500) and
the US Ofce of Naval Research Global
($12,000). In spring 2014 we will publish
two edited collections through Routledge
and Springer.
Co-Investigators:
Dr Thom Chen, Dr Lee Jarvis
s.macdonald@swansea.ac.uk
www.cyberterrorism-project.org
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-
wales-22104451
CYBERTERRORISM:
A MULTIDISCIPLINARY
PERSPECTIVE
CASE STUDY
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: DR STUART MACDONALD, SCHOOL OF LAW
AWARDED: 4,480, SEPTEMBER 2011
Through our national
and international
collaborations we have
discovered an enormous
diversity of views around
cyberterrorism
CASE STUDY
TRANSLATION ARRAYS
VERSION, VARIATION,
VISUALISATION
PHASE2
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: DR TOM CHEESMAN, COLLEGE OF ARTS & HUMANITIES
AWARDED: 3,000, MARCH 2012
ne approach to advancing cross-cultural understanding is to focus on cultural works which criss-cross cultural
boundaries over time.
For example, if we could have a full picture of not only when and where Shakespeares works have been and are
being translated but also how they have been and are being translated in other words, how the works
were/are interpreted, re-used, exploited then we would have something like an encyclopaedic
knowledge of all the worlds cultures in which Shakespeare is important: his work would be a
prism for understanding differences between and within the worlds cultures.
The same approach applies equally to the Bible, the Quran, the works of
Confucius, Dante and so on. Such a completist ambition is probably
illusory. It would leave a huge remainder, (all the cultural works which
are not versions of others), which would be at least as signicant
for cross-cultural understanding. However, ultimately it is within
this sort of idealistic framework that it is interesting to
develop new methodology and tools.
For example, 22 million school students in China every year, aged 14-15, read part of The Merchant of
Venice, where Christians put a Jew on trial and the Jew defends his common humanity. The students get to
read it in Chinese. Which translation do they read? There are dozens of translations in Chinese; hundreds of
them all over the world: every translation subtly or crudely changes the way the play the conicts within the
play can be understood. Online, the students could compare versions in their own language; they could also
explore how the play has been differently translated in other languages; they could collaborate in doing this,
in worldwide networks in principle.
The study of differences among translations is interesting from several perspectives. Different translations
reect (a) source text ambiguity and variation, (b) changes in the translating language and culture, (c) varying
purposes of translation, (d) translator idiosyncracies, and (e) the nature of human language.
As a lecturer in German, I wanted to explore the creation and use of digital tools to help explore the 40 or
so German versions of Shakespeares Othello I have in my collection. The project had no precedent and it
promised to lead to an entirely new kind of digital cultural product of enormous international interest.
I knew I wanted visualisation-based approaches to the problem and therefore an expert in data visualisation,
which turned out to be Dr Bob Laramee and his PhD student Zhao Geng from Swanseas department
of Computer Science. The nature of literary works and of human creative translation means
that what we want are maximally exible and user-customisable tools which exploit
the advantages of digital interfaces over paper codices (e.g. quasi-instant and
quasi-complete search/retrieval, various modes of algorithmic analysis,
visualisation of abstracted patterns, machine translation, social
affordances, etc.), and minimise the relative disadvantages
such as loss of context and restrictions of screen view
space.

We collected and digitised the different German translations of Othello, which ranged in date from 1766 to
2009, developed methods for statistically analysing the differences among them and devised prototype visual
interfaces. This was our Translation Array, which can be seen at the link below, as can the prototype map of
Othello translations.
Through this work we have the potential to shed new light on the world history of translating cultures, on the
work of specic translators, on the source texts, and on language itself.
Co investigator: Dr Bob Laramee
t.cheesman@swansea.ac.uk
www.delightedbeauty.org
othellomap.nand.io/
RESEARCH AS ART
LEIFA
JENNINGS
College of Medicine
Cobalt, Celeste, Cyan and Me

This photo shows a rail of
blue theatre scrubs, ready
to be worn. It is a visual
representation of how it feels to
be a medical student entering
the operating theatre for the
rst time. Everyone else has
a role to play and a place to
be, but as a student you stand
there, bright red Student
lanyard around your neck,
feeling like you denitely dont
t in. My research project on
theatre etiquette aims to create
a piece of work to inform
new students of the unwritten
rules of the operating theatre,
hopefully allowing them to feel
more condent the rst time
they enter the operating theatre
environment.
NOTED & QUOTED NOTED & QUOTED
A GLIMPSE of Greenland
BBC Radio Wales Roy Noble programme featured
a 30-minute interview with Glaciology Professor
Tavi Murray and Laurence Dyke, about the research
they are conducting through the GLIMPSE project.
They spoke about their documentary lm, which was
premiered in Interdisciplinary Research Week.
BBC Radio Wales, 23 November 2011
Diabetes Monitoring
I am working on the development of a highly-sensitive
and selective biosensor for the continuous monitoring
of blood glucose using metal-oxide nanowires, said
Dr Vincent (Kar Seng) Teng, (Engineering). Due to
the relatively large surface area of nanomaterials...,
the use of nanowires provides excellent sensitivity and
response towards small changes in the blood glucose
level.
The project, in collaboration with Welsh companies,
is developing a non-invasive, continuous monitoring
technology that allows diabetic patients to take control
of their long-term illnesses.
BBC Wales Today, 23 November 2011
The Meaning and Threat of
Cyberterrorism
Dr Lee Jarvis, co-leader of the Swansea Cyberterrorism
Project (Politics and International Relations) and visiting
speaker Dr Timothy Legrand of Grifth University,
Queensland, spoke about Cyberterrorism and the
two-day, international workshop which took place at
Swansea University.
BBC Radio Wales, 14 September 2012
Scientists to Research First-ever
Egyptian Devils Encyclopaedia
Following BTG funding for a pilot study, Dr Kasia
Szpakowska (History and Classics) secured
158,000 from the Leverhulme Trust to establish
the worlds rst encyclopaedia of ancient Egyptian
demons. While gods such as Osiris or Isis are
familiar, the darker side of religion and ominous
entities such as Sehaqeq, Fiery-Breath, or Consumer of
Hearts, have remained in the shadows. New digital
technology will allow our team to explore their world
and make it accessible.
Wales on Sunday, 28 October 2012
Learning Languages
Individual learner differences play a huge part in
how different people learn a language successfully,
said Dr Tess Fitzpatrick (Languages Research Centre).
In the past language learning was about tables of
verbs and grammatical structures, and rote learning of
mutations for Welsh, and so on, she said.
In more recent years we have realised that this
approach doesnt suit all learners and it is certainly not
necessarily conducive to real world conversation and
communication.
That is why things like exchange trips where
learners are immersed in the language tend to be
so successful.
Western Mail, 2 March 2012
Henrys Elite Identied
Nick Owen, (Sport Science), spoke to Der Spiegel
about advances in the projects ndings. The constant
use of heavy longbows had left their marks on the
skeletons of soldiers. You can see the strain on the
shoulders and on the lower spine, says biochemist
Nick Owen of the Swansea University. The soldiers
were all very large: In order to shoot the longbow, it
requires a lot of strength. Historical records tell us that
many of the men came from Wales. Previous studies
have already shown that they mainly lived on salt
meat and crisp bread.
Der Spiegel, 11 December 2012
Coming of Age
Patients from Singleton and Gorseinon Hospitals have
been busy capturing their memories on a memory
card which will form part of the Coming of Age trail,
partially funded by BTG, linking Singleton Hospital
with Swansea University.
Arts in health coordinator for Abertawe Bro
Morgannwg Health Board, and project co-
investogator, Prue Thimbleby, said: The older patients
really enjoyed looking through the photographs, and it
wasnt long before something triggered a memory.
Many wonderful stories, and a few tears, were shared
during the course of the workshops, she said.
South Wales Evening Post, 13 May 2013
Welsh Archers on Board the
Mary Rose?
Scientists have begun work on extracting DNA from
the bones of the human skeletons found on board the
Mary Rose warship with a view to identifying the
men and perhaps even tracing their living relatives.
Nick Owen (Sport Science), a sports biomechanics
expert at Swansea University who has been leading
the team examining the human remains. Ultimately
we would like to nd some living relatives, although
there are no records of those who were on board so it
will be like searching for one blade of grass in a eld.
It would be marvellous if we could narrow it down to
families and it is known that archers for example came
from certain parts of the country like Wales, so that
gives us a bit of a pointer.
The Telegraph, 30 May 2013
Stunning Science
A Kinder chocolate challenge, the gravestones
of failed solar cells, insect poo and medieval
disgurement were among the images celebrated
in the 2013 Research as Art competition, which
showcases striking images that tell stories of scientic
research. The competition is organised by Dr Richard
Johnston (Engineering), of Swansea University
Research Forum and supported by the Bridging the
Gaps programme.
The Guardian, 27 June 2013
Rediscovering the Story of Steel
Recently analysed archives show the rst chief of the
Abbey steelworks in Port Talbot, Fred Cartwright,
brought information back from the US in 1951 to help
British steel.
Dr Louise Miskell (History and Classics), said: Key
gures in the steel industry have, until now, been
conspicuous by their absence from the industrial
history of twentieth Century Wales. We need to
know much more about how people like Cartwright
operated.
We also need to know more about the wider impact
of the steel industry on communities like Port Talbot.
Along with the loan of the records from our partners at
Tata, its another vital step in helping us to understand
the story of steel, in Wales and across the UK.
South Wales Evening Post, 13 September 2013
NOTED & QUOTED
BTG-FUNDED RESEARCHERS AND EXPERTISE
HAS HIT THE HEADLINES THROUGHOUT
THE DURATION OF THE PROGRAMME. HERE
IS A SELECTION...
NOTED
QUOTED
MANY WONDERFUL STORIES, AND A FEW TEARS,
WERE SHARED DURING THE COURSE OF THE
WORKSHOPS
WORKING BETWEEN THE BOUNDARIES MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Multidisciplinary is certainly one
of the buzzwords of current STEM
research. Government funding
agencies, universities, research
directors and scientic journals all
promote the ethos of collaborative
innovation and investigation across
traditional subject boundaries. In
fact, such is the clamour for multi-
skilled, translational science that
one could be forgiven for thinking
that cross-discipline networks
are a guarantee of success! Of
course the reality is that working
in multidisciplinary research is
difcult and extremely challenging
and quite as likely to lead to the
mediocrity of being a jack of all
trades and master of none, as it
is to creating frontier science of a
ground breaking nature. However,
just because something is difcult is
not a reason for not taking up the
challenge and I rmly believe that
the potential reward from working
at the boundaries of science-
engineering-medicine is so great,
both for personal and professional
development, that anyone who
is presented with an opportunity
for multidisciplinary research, and
nds it attractive, should immerse
themselves in the challenge.
The rst thing to be aware of
when leaving the safe ground
of a well-established academic
discipline is that there are a number
of unavoidable difculties to be
faced. First and foremost it means
talking to strangers in a foreign
scientic language and of course
all disciplines have their favourite
areas, kept safe from intruders,
by impenetrable jargon. Thus for
instance, medical researchers
interested in nanotechnology may
come across the eigenvalues of
the quantum mechanical wave
function whilst the nanotechnologist
has to get their head around such
techniques as organelle partitioning,
phosphopeptide enrichment and
immunopurication. Adapting
to other scientic languages and
cultures can be particularly difcult
in the UK, where the divide between
the life and physical sciences starts
well before university. Even when
disparate groups of researchers
have successfully forged a team
they may still face difculties in
getting their work accepted by grant
reviewers and journal referees. In
multidisciplinary work the excellence
often comes through the combination
rather than the discrete components
of the team and if this synergy
is overlooked then the research
becomes just the sum of its parts,
which in todays competitive world is
not good enough.
Despite the hurdles, I believe
multidisciplinary research is
invigorating, exciting and, ultimately,
is the way that science and
technology will progress through
the twenty-rst century. Perhaps
most importantly in an institution
such as Swansea University, it
provides opportunities for world-class
research through the development
of bespoke expertise in niche areas.
In the globally competitive research
arena we can create internationally
recognised clusters in nanomedicine,
manufacturing, water quality and
safety, digital humanities and ageing
the prestige and impact of which
far exceeds what may be expected
of a relatively small university in the
west of Wales.
At a personal level, this aspect of
collaborative research is even more
profound. Any talented researcher
who is adventurous enough to move
to new disciplines can create a
unique contribution to science which
is determined by their energy and
enthusiasm rather than the prestige
of an institution or the scale of its
research budget.
Professor Huw Summers
Head of the Multidisciplinary
Nanotechnology Centre, College of
Engineering
MULTIDISCIPLINARY
SCIENCE &
TECHNOLOGY
WORKING AT THE BOUNDARIES WITHOUT FALLING THROUGH THE CRACKS
RESEARCH AS ART
CHRISTINE DOW
College of Science
Anyone Fancy a Swim?

This is a photograph of a supraglacial lake on the Greenland Ice Sheet taken from a helicopter.
Lakes in this region of south west Greenland can sometimes drain catastrophically, pumping millions
of cubic meters of water to the ice base in a matter of hours. Such an inux of lubricating water has
signicant impacts on the ice dynamics and, as a result, research groups closely monitor the evolution
of the lakes and related drainage throughout the melt season. With a warming climate, lakes will
likely form at higher elevations due to increased melting on the ice surface. If this water reaches the
ice bed then it could signicantly impact the rate of ice ow in the region.
COLLEGE COLLABORATIONS
BTG GRANTS AWARDED BY COLLEGE
(TOTAL GRANTS AWARDED: TOTAL VALUE)
College of Arts &
Humanities
10: 17,026
College
of Business,
Economics & Law
3: 12,0371
College of
Engineering
24: 124,163
College of
Human & Health
Sciences
8: 45,319
College of
Medicine
9: 35,200
College of
Science
19: 104,898
At the core of BTGs achievements are the
collaborations that have been initiated across
disciplines and Colleges. Encouraging academics to
overcome differences in methodologies, language,
and operating timescales and bringing together
researchers from different career stages is not always
easy but it can be immensely rewarding.
BTG funded projects have seen glaciologist Dr Adam
Booth work with Egyptologist Dr Kasia Szpakowska
to investigate unexplored pyramids in Egypt. Dr Booth
also worked with Professor Maurice Whitehead, an
historian and his team, to explore the architectural
mysteries of Raglan Hall. Dr Szpakowska went on to
work with an artist to create replica clay cobras and
a materials engineer, Dr Richard Johnston, to look
at their breakage patterns and properties. Weve
seen language specialists seek out the expertise of
computer scientists; psychologist Dr Michelle Lee work
with economists to model choice behaviour, and a
computational and uids engineer, Dr Raoul van Loon,
work with medics to explore how engineering can help
us understand our bodies and, in particular, lymphatic
physiology.

Bringing together these new and novel collaborations
has not only enhanced individuals research but
also the collegiate nature of the Universitys research
community. Dr Kasia Szpakowska said: Working with
an engineer and an artist helped me to see questions,
problems and solutions with completely new eyes.
Professor Tess Fitzpatrick (Research Language Centre)
goes on: BTG enabled us to make a very signicant
step towards applying a methodology grounded in
applied linguistics theory, to a context more usually the
domain of clinical psychology. The potential benets
to research in both elds and, most importantly, to the
end user, are considerable. Or as Nick Owen (Sport
and Exercise Science), succinctly puts it: The more
you do it [collaborative research] the more you realise
how much is to be gained.
The illustration shows how many projects were
supported within each College as well as how those
projects crossed and involved other academics in
different Colleges. If there is a consistent to arise from
BTG and be articulated throughout this publication,
it is that while it may be difcult to overcome some
of barriers (real or perceived) that prevent academics
working across disciplines methodologies,
departmental or College divisions, for example
persevering to overcome those barriers leads to far
greater opportunities, impact and enrichment of
the research community, whether it be based upon
campus, nationally or internationally.
Arts & Humanities
Business, Economics & Law
Engineering
Human & Health Sciences
Medicine
Science
National
International
Arts & Humanities
Engineering
Medicine
Science
National
International
Arts & Humanities
Engineering
Medicine
Science
National
International
Arts & Humanities
Engineering
Medicine
Science
National
International
Arts & Humanities
Engineering
Medicine
Science
National
International
Arts & Humanities
Engineering
Medicine
Science
National
International
2
0
2
2
0
8
5
0
1
2
2
0
0
0
0
1
4
4
20
6
12
23
28
13
2
1
3
3
1
4
1
0
0
0
3
1
3
3
1
0
3
2
8
3
1
8
6
4
College of Arts &
Humanities
College of Business,
Economics & Law
College of
Engineering
College of Human &
Health Sciences
College of Medicine
College of Science
19
6
110
15
11
35
COLLEGE
COLLABORATIONS
PI COLLEGE
COLLEGE COLLABORATORS
FREQUENCY OF COLLEGE COLLABORATOR
TOTAL COLLABORATIONS
CASE STUDY
T
he anonymity afforded by the
internet makes it a frequent
medium in which sexual predators
groom children for sexual abuse.
Online grooming affects a
signicant proportion of children
and teenagers, with reported
incidences ranging from 19%
(First Youth Internet Safety Survey,
YISS-1, 2000) to 35% (Ybarra et
al., 2007). The exact magnitude
of the problem is difcult to
determine, given that many cases
go unreported due to the nature of
the crime and the vulnerability of
the victims.
The aim of our project was to
develop a communicative prole of
online sexual predators with a view
to contributing to their potential
detection.
The support we had from BTG
enabled the research team to
integrate information, techniques,
perspectives, expertise and
approaches from two disciplines:
psychology and linguistics. We
devised two phases to the work:
(1) identication of the different
stages of online grooming and
establishing whether online sexual
predators display a characteristic
communicative prole; (2) [post
BTG] development of a challenge-
response authentication protocol
based on idiosyncratic word
processing patterns and aimed at
identifying sexual predators.
The team had the right skills
mix for the project. It comprised
two PIs: Dr Izura, a specialist in
Cognitive Psychology and Professor
Lorenzo-Dus, a specialist in Media
Discourse Analysis; and Research
Assistant Dr Perez-Tattam who
specialises in Psycholinguistics. Just
as importantly, the team shared a
research vision: it had the same
research focus and organically
developed effective leadership
arrangements. We found the
transition from multidisciplinary to
interdisciplinary work within the
team the most time-consuming
aspect within the short period of
time allocated to the project: each
member had to up-skill in one
or more areas, be it training in
methods not previously used within
single-discipline work or mapping
concepts across disciplinary
traditions.
This was far from totally
unexpected, for we had previously
conducted multidisciplinary
research. We were able to put in
place effective research processes
thanks to the supportive research
infrastructure provided by BTG. The
opportunities we experienced in
terms of, for instance, taking part
in best-practice information sharing
cross-institutionally are, in our
opinion, one of the most rewarding
research benets that a university
that embraces change in research
culture such as that promoted by
BTG can offer.
Our project results revealed that
the communicative prole of
online sexual predators shares
some characteristics with the
overarching model of Child Sexual
Predators Luring Communication
(Olson et al., 2007). However,
our inter-disciplinary methods
uniquely allowed us to identify
some features that were specic
to online sexual predation, such
as the frequency, realisations and
preferred modalities (e.g. picture
sharing, webcam usage) of implicit
versus explicit sexual discourse. Our
work, therefore, contributes to a
better, more holistic understanding
of online grooming.
We foresee future engagement with
local schools, the police, software
companies and organisations such
as the UK Council for Child Internet
Safety (UKCCIS) and the Child
Exploitation and Online Protection
(CEOP) centre, to share information,
research resources and training.
c.izura@swansea.ac.uk
n.lorenzo-dus@swansea.ac.uk
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: PROFESSOR NURIA LORENZO DUS, COLLEGE OF ARTS & HUMANITIES,
AND DR CRISTINA IZURA, COLLEGE OF HUMAN & HEALTH SCIENCES
COMMUNICATIVE
PROFILING OF
ONLINE SEX PREDATORS
MANY CASES GO UNREPORTED DUE TO
THE NATURE OF THE CRIME AND THE
VULNERABILITY OF THE VICTIMS
LEADING A PROJECT FOR THE FIRST TIME
Whats it like to lead a research
project for the rst time? We asked
three early career researchers to give
us their insight.
Dr Dan Johnson, College of
Engineering (DJ)
Project Title: Investigation into the
Internal Fine Structure of Ensis Siliqua
Shells
Awarded: 2,672, September 2012
Dr Pay Fen (Connie) Eng, College of
Engineering (PFE)
Project Title: Microneedle, Pain Free
Technology for Drug Delivery
Applications
Awarded: 7,330, September 2012
Dr Gabriela Jiga-Boy, College of
Science (GJB)
Project Title: The Allure of Good
Plans: How Mobile Phone-Based
Feedback Can Boost the Positive
Effect of Concrete Plans on Health
Behaviour Change
Awarded: 3,350, March 2011
What has been the most exciting
aspect of leading your rst project?
DJ: Putting the proposal together.
Trying to phrase the initial ideas in
a way which would be interesting,
attractive to potential collaborators
and also would full the criteria under
which the proposals were to be
judged was quite challenging. Equally
exciting was liaising with the project
partners to discuss results and potential
ways forward with the technical
aspects of the project.
PFE: Working together with strong
partners to continue to develop
Microneedle technology for real
applications, with the prospect of
producing commercial products.
GJB: The freedom to build links with
a domain I wrongly thought was
segregated from psychology (computer
science). I realised that curiosity
towards what other researchers are
doing can bring you lots of creative
moments you didnt expect.
What have you learnt about yourself
and managing others as you
delivered your project?
DJ: I have improved my skills for
writing proposals. I have also learnt
how to be realistic without limiting the
LEADING A
PROJECT FOR
THE FIRST TIME
long term view of possible directions
the research could go in.
PFE: There are a number of things:
I understand more about project
budgeting and monitoring; Ive
developed my communication
skills to maintain the relationship
with collaborative partners and
Ive learned to work with industry,
especially the steps needed to
commercialise technology.
GJB: That it is crucial to communicate
with other researchers and
collaborators. And that a lot of
ideas can be lost if we dont build a
friendly environment in which we can
freely speak out and try any research
idea.
Delivering an interdisciplinary
research project is a complex
process. What has been your
recipe for making things work?
DJ: Recognising that things will
not always go to plan, and that
any unforeseen obstacles present
opportunities for new ideas.
PFE: The recipe for making things
work is a combination of passion and
patience for the project.
GJB: Curiosity should be a constant
in any such relationship curiosity to
let others talk and propose ideas
curiosity to try them. The rest should
be a exible process, in which you
constantly adapt what you do and
how you do it.
How has leading a project changed
the way you approach research
and leading research in the future?
DJ: It has allowed me to better
appreciate how the different strands
in a multidisciplinary project interact
and intertwine.
PFE: Understand the patients or
societys needs before pursuing
research topics what will the impact
be?
GJB: It increased my condence and
gave me the precedent to take more
initiatives and to say yes to more
invitations to work on collaborative
initiatives (e.g., apply and take part
in the Welsh Crucible 2013).
Gabriela, Dan, Connie
How would you encourage others
to participate in interdisciplinary
research?
DJ: Many areas of research need a
multidisciplinary focus to best answer
them, so interdisciplinary research
will always be necessary and worth
doing.
PFE: Introduce interdisciplinary
research outcomes to academic
teaching modules and share best
practice and expertise with other
researchers. Id like to demonstrate to
industrialists the capabilities we have
at Swansea University, especially
within the Centre for NanoHealth.
GJB: I think the main issue in doing
interdisciplinary research is to stay
true to ones research methods and
interests. This might sound egocentric,
but I dont think true interdisciplinarity
is possible without each party being
really good and committed to the
things s/he knows best.
BTG has shaped and improved the
work environment through giving
people the opportunity to engage
in novel areas of research and has
enabled in-house growth of talent.
How would you respond to this
statement?
DJ: Schemes like this which provide
small scale funding are useful for
starting new collaborations and
allowing new ideas to be tested.
PFE: BTG has been a tremendously
successful vehicle for developing my
own Research interests in collaboration
with academics from different
technology elds.
GJB: To me, BTG has enlarged the
pool of opportunities we had within
the University, where a psychology
researcher, for example, would not
have otherwise had the chance to nd
funding from an engineering research
council. BTG has demonstrated
that theres more in common across
disciplines than we think.
Whats the next step for you and
your research?
DJ: Now that weve been able to
undertake some feasibility research,
Im going to look for new funding
opportunities to carry my work
forward.
PFE: I will continue to work on my
existing projects and explore new
research opportunities.
GJB: I am currently setting up my own
lab my own research lines and
the people I work with in exploring
them. I am interested in developing a
range of social psychology research
both in more theoretical elds (social
cognition, distance perception,
motivation) and applied (judgment
and decision making, health,
entrepreneurship, environment). I
think that being a social psychologist
enables me to be at the right crossing
of these domains without paying lip
service to the detriment of the others.
LEADING A PROJECT FOR THE FIRST TIME
CURIOSITY
SHOULD BE
A CONSTANT
IN ANY SUCH
RELATIONSHIP
- CURIOSITY
TO LET OTHERS
TALK AND
PROPOSE IDEAS
- CURIOSITY
TO TRY THEM
RESEARCH AS ART
SUZY MOODY
Institute of Life Science, College of Medicine
Who says bacteria cant be beautiful?

This is Streptomyces coelicolor a soil organism studied because, like the rest of its family it produces antibiotics
and other complex biological molecules that are useful to us. This is a knock out mutant, which is also important from
a broad biological perspective as it is often by knocking out a gene that we can learn exactly what it does. This
particular photo is of the bacteria growing normally on an agar plate. The pink and blue colours are completely
natural (I havent digitally enhanced the photo at all) they are the pigmented antibiotics that the bacteria release.
CASE STUDY
H
uman blood is a vital substance
which keeps body cells alive.
Upon injury, to ensure that this
precious uid is retained within the
body, a complex cascade of events
occurs which is triggered to quickly
form a blood clot at the site of injury,
in order to prevent further blood loss.
If an individual has an impaired
capacity to clot their blood (e.g.
haemophilia) they are under life-long
threat of severe haemorrhage. This
potential for rapid, fatal blood
loss is also evident for patients
experiencing serious injury of an
emergency nature e.g. stab wounds,
traumatic accidents or battleeld
injuries.
The emergency care of life-
threatening blood loss has
not improved much over the
centuries and although a few new
haemostatic (blood clotting) agents
are currently being developed and
trialled, most of these are riddled
with problems and serious side
effects such as burning of skin and
tissue, corneal damage, and the
triggering of heart attacks and
strokes. These new agents are also
extremely costly and there is thus
a concerted drive, particularly by
the Ministry of Defence, to pursue
and invest in research which may
ultimately deliver a new, safe
haemostatic agent.
During our recent investigations on
invertebrate immune systems and
the production of antimicrobial
molecules by marine species, it was
noted that haemolymph (blood)
from several of these species (in
particular crabs and lobsters),
displayed a remarkable ability to
very quickly coagulate; Crabs and
lobsters frequently cast-off limbs
as a defence response to being
caught by predators. For the injured
animal, this rapid clot formation is a
mechanism to prevent further loss of
its own haemolymph, thereby also
sealing the wound against potential
pathogens.
In humans, brinogen is an extremely
important precursor to the insoluble
protein brin, which must be formed
in order for blood to clot. While
the clotting pathways of humans
and invertebrates have evolved
independently, studies have shown
the presence of brinogen-like
sequences in the genes of some
invertebrate echinoderms, such as
starsh. This suggests the possibility
that there may be crossover in the
blood clotting pathways of humans
and some invertebrates.
We therefore became interested to
further investigate the formation and
nature of these invertebrate clots,
and the potential of any interaction
between invertebrate clotting factors
with the human blood clotting
cascade.
Our initial study investigated the
presence of haemostatic factors
in the haemolymph of a panel of
invertebrates. These experiments
revealed that blood from an insect,
the cockroach, appeared to have
some interaction with the human
blood clotting system. In our assays,
cockroach haemolymph dramatically
sped up clotting of human plasma
from 39.1 to 12.3 seconds.
To continue investigations into the
potential of cockroach haemolymph,
we approached BTG for a follow-on
grant, to enable us to attempt an
isolation of the clotting factor/s, and
to gather additional information on
the size, nature and stability of the
human clot that may be formed in
the presence of cockroach factors.
Our collaboration with Professor
Rhodri Williamss research group
enabled us to undertake such
detailed investigations and also to
capture and analyse quantitative and
qualitative rheological information
about clot formation within each
invertebrate.
As a result of our BTG funded
work, we hope to be in a position
to clearly identify whether there
is genuinely a haemostatic factor
present within the cockroach that
may have potential to act as a
haemostatic agent for human blood.
We hope this nding may lead to
IP protection and further external
applications for research grants from
larger funding bodies.
In addition, the results we have
obtained will be published to present
the rheometric proles and micro-
droplet analysis of the whole panel
of invertebrate haemolymph work
a unique analysis which has never
been published before.
Co-Investigators:
Professor Andy Rowley, Professor
Rhodri Williams, Dr Claire Vogan
y.nigam@swansea.ac.uk
CLOTS FROM CRABS:
CAN FACTORS FROM
INVERTEBRATES ACT AS CLOTTING
AGENTS FOR HUMAN BLOOD?
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: DR YAMNI NIGAM, COLLEGE OF HUMAN AND HEALTH SCIENCES
AWARDED: 8,108, SEPTEMBER 2011 AND 14,998, SEPTEMBER 2012
THESE EXPERIMENTS REVEALED THAT BLOOD
FROM AN INSECT, THE COCKROACH, APPEARED
TO HAVE SOME INTERACTION WITH THE
HUMAN BLOOD CLOTTING SYSTEM
On July 19, 1545, 400 men died
when the warship Mary Rose sank in
the Solent. In 1971 the wreck was
rediscovered but it wasnt until 1982
that she was salvaged in one of the
most complex and expensive projects in
maritime archaeology.
Amongst the salvage and artefacts were
many human remains. Within these
were 92 almost complete skeletons,
which, because of their location and the
objects found with them (3,500 arrows,
137 longbows and some prestigious
items) led us to question whether these
were an elite group of archers.
While some skeletons were found
in isolation, some were co-mingled
and, even though they were expertly
matched, there still remained some
uncertainty as to the delity of the
recombination of individual skeletons.
Our study sought to infer certain
occupational activity (archery) with
differences found between the same
bone from different sides of an
individuals skeleton, for instance pairs
of radii bones.
Clearly, if we were studying pairs
of bones not originating from the
same individual our study would be
completely compromised. Therefore,
we sought assistance from a geneticist,
Swanseas Dr Sarah Forbes-Robertson,
to match our bones. Extraction and
analysis of ancient DNA is not
straight forward and prior to any
grant application it quickly became
apparent that proof of concept was
necessary. We therefore needed a
tenacious, experienced and motivated
geneticist prepared to develop a new
technique, specic to the conditions
that the Mary Rose bones had been
exposed to over the centuries. In
addition, we also needed the skills
of an orthopaedic surgeon to collect
good, clean samples while causing
minimal damage to what is probably
one of the most important collections of
historic skeletal remains in the world. Mr
Ujjal Choudhuri from Bro Morganwg
Abertawe NHS Trust provided his skills
for this task.
The outcome of the research was
successful extraction of ancient DNA
which, after coverage on BBC Radio
4s Today programme, led directly
to international collaboration with Dr
Chris Phillips, from the Forensic Science
Institute at the Universidade Santiago de
Compastela, one of the worlds leading
forensic genetics research groups.
As a result of this success we were
asked to accompany the Mary Rose
Trust to the Big Bang Festival of Science
2013 in London, which was attended
by more than 65,000 people. It was
here we met Professor Sir Walter
Bodmer from Oxford University, pre-
eminent geneticist and author of The
Public Understanding of Science (or,
The Bodmer Report) a watershed for
science policy in the UK.
We have met with Sir Walter and his
People of the British Isles research team
and he has agreed to collaborate with
us to investigate the geographical origin
of the Mary Rose skeletons.
In addition, the successful extraction of
ancient, nuclear DNA will lead to the
ability to compare diseases in a clearly
dened population from almost 500
years ago with modern populations.
Further, the extraction will lead to
condence in the matching of paired
bones from the original study, which, in
turn, will lead to a better understanding
of resistance training effects on a
paediatric population (medieval archers
started training at a very early age, 7 or
8 years old).
This is in addition to the human story
which can be told of the archers from
Henry VIIIs ship and the huge public
engagement opportunities that brings.
Co-investigators:
Dr Sarah Forbes-Robertson,
Mr Ujjal Choudhuri
n.j.owen@swansea.ac.uk
www.maryrose.org
www.peopleofthebritishisles.org
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: MR NICK OWEN, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
AWARDED: 6,780, MARCH 2012
ANALYSIS OF THE ATTRIBUTES OF
ARCHERS USING HUMAN REMAINS
FROM THE MARY ROSE WARSHIP
CASE STUDY
TALKING HEADS
How would you describe
interdisciplinary research?
SW: For me, its a cross-over between
dissimilar research areas or the translation
of a methodology or application from one
discipline to another that results in a step-
change in development.
JB: Yes, its working between boundaries
that enables researchers to identify
new areas of research and to produce
innovative solutions that individual
disciplines may be unable to deliver
satisfactorily.
RVL: Id add that interdisciplinary
research broadens your mind, triggers
new ideas, but also takes you outside
your comfort zone. Since interdisciplinary
researchers have expertise in distinct
research areas, it requires a signicant
amount of trust and communication
between them to work efciently.
JP: I see interdisciplinary research
as the combination of two or more
disciplines working together to explore
a common research issue and gain an
understanding of complex problems. It
is research connecting and integrating
data, methods, theories, and tools; each
discipline working with reference to the
other and not on separate aspects of the
research.
I also think there is often confusion
with multidisciplinary work, which is a
mixture of disciplines working mainly in
isolation or on different work packages
that may not have synergy with other
work packages. The aim is to develop
into trans-disciplinary research, where
new theories, methods and data
are generated that are valuable and
applicable within many disciplines.

Many people refer to interdisciplinary
research as something other than
normal research. How do you respond
to that perspective?
RVL: I dont really like the term normal
in any context. I appreciate that
interdisciplinary research is a distinct type
of research and if you learn anything from
interdisciplinary collaborations it is that the
norm is very different between disciplines.
For example, research that is considered
normal in engineering varies tremendously
from what is normal in medicine.
SW: Its not really other, but it is a
different approach to research that
encourages you to see opportunities
outside your own area. You could say its
almost an entrepreneurial approach to
research.
JB: I feel that interdisciplinary research is
the norm here at Swansea, and we have
beneted signicantly from this in terms
of grant capture, attracting world-class
researchers and delivering impactful
research. The acceleration of benets is
undoubtedly a result of the EPSRC BTG
programme, but our priority now is to
embed interdisciplinary working in areas
that are yet to engage and maximise its
benet, and to support researchers who
are working between disciplines.
JP: The norm and the steer we get
from research funders is for more
interdisciplinary research so I would
consider this to be increasingly the norm,
but dont forget that there is still value
in some areas of single disciplinary
research!
How do you see interdisciplinary
research changing the UKs research
culture and its position globally?
JP: The UK has a major role to play in
combating many of the worlds problems,
and the pace of change is increasing in
certain areas. For example, in relation
to ageing research, the New Dynamics
of Ageing and the Life Long Health
and Wellbeing programmes are both
supported by all research councils, are
interdisciplinary, and have been viewed
as agships in Europe. The increasing
collaboration with international funders
e.g. with the National Institute of Ageing
in the USA and through Joint Programme
Initiatives in Europe has consequently also
been strengthened.
SW: There are huge opportunities in
interdisciplinary research. Often it can
be as simple as the translation of an
application from one eld to another that
would make a huge difference to the
latter eld. It also offers opportunities for
new ways to approach problems that are
non-standard in a particular discipline that
can completely change the way in which
that discipline develops. Interdisciplinary
research is here to stay and funders
world-wide see this as a ripe area for
development and funding.
RVL: Interdisciplinary research has only
recently seen a large growth and it seems
that it will continue to do so. It reveals
HEADS
TALKING
What is interdisciplinary research, and what does it mean for institutions?
We asked four staff who were involved in BTG at Swansea to share their thoughts: Professor Steve Wilks (SW) is
Head of College of Science; Dr Raoul van Loon (RVL), a Computational Biomedical Engineer, led a BTG-funded
project and participated in Welsh Crucible in 2011; Jonathan Burnes (JB) is Swansea Universitys Programme
Manager for Research, and Professor Judith Phillips (JP) is a Co-investigator on BTG, is Deputy Pro-Vice-
Chancellor and Director of the Research Institute for Applied Social Sciences (RIASS).
Jonathan, Steve, Raoul and Judith
new avenues and its growth will be
essential for the UK to stay on top
as a country practicing high level
research; I wouldnt expect it to
replace more conventional scientic
research, but rather have a place
alongside it.
JB: Interdisciplinary research enables
international collaborations. My
experience of visiting collaborators
in China, Europe and the USA is
that other countries are adopting
a similar approach to the UK. Our
universities and researchers must
embrace this approach to maximise
our position and catapult the UK
into the next phase of globalising
research.
How can universities, which have
spent time and monies investing
in systems and infrastructure,
adapt to accommodate practices
and processes that underpin
interdisciplinary research?
SW: I believe modern universities
need to foster a culture of
collaboration, not ownership.
The rewards in any project must
follow the effort that is put in if it is
to form the basis of a sustainable
partnership. Professional services
within universities also need to
adopt more collaborative and
interdisciplinary approaches to
support these activities, which in turn
will add value to their own areas.
JB: There are lots of initiatives and
processes that could be implemented
to advance interdisciplinary
research, such as recognition and
reward for interdisciplinary working
through Professional Development
Reviews, and transparent accounting
systems for Principal Investigators to
monitor interdisciplinary projects.
I think central university activity
such as funding opportunities
to support seed corn projects
between disciplines is essential,
as are training opportunities for
collaborative and interdisciplinary
working, postgraduate scholarships
and bursaries for interdisciplinary
PhD students, and support for
cross-College institutes and research
centres.
RVL: Regulations and expectations
can be very different amongst
disciplines, which can put additional
pressure on any collaboration and
often requires some compromise.
Even if the researchers involved are
willing to make these compromises,
existing conventions and perceptions
in departments are hard to break.
Hence, the value of interdisciplinary
collaborations should be
appreciated and departments
should have systems in place to
accommodate for them. Some
dedicated central unit that gathers
information on interdisciplinary
research and can help researchers
break down any existing barriers
would be really benecial to
promote this type of research.
JP: I feel that successful
collaborations depend on getting the
nancial processes and mechanisms
right, whether this is pump-priming
money across different Colleges
or allocation of funds on successful
grants. Transferring funding down
to individuals and centres is an
essential incentive. Dedicated social
space (with coffee!) to encourage
informal conversations between staff
across disciplines is essential.
If you were able to travel forwards
10 years and look back to today,
what do you think people would
be saying about the changes the
sector has made to better facilitate
interdisciplinary working?
JP: I hope we would see that there
has been considerable evaluation
of interdisciplinary research and
many more interdisciplinary research
posts in universities. I think the culture
will have changed so researchers
can more readily gain promotion
in relation to interdisciplinary
work, and that journals and
research funders are better able
to accommodate interdisciplinary
approaches in peer reviewing.
I think Research Councils will be
demanding more interdisciplinary
research in the same sort of way
as is happening in Horizon 2020,
where the mainstreaming of social
sciences and humanities requires all
challenges to address these areas,
whatever the origins of the calls.
SW: I think wed be talking about
more exible support mechanisms
to fund and enable interdisciplinary
research, innovative building design
and space usage to facilitate such
activities, and new undergraduate
schemes that develop skills across
disciplines which equip the new
work-force.
JB: Well recognise how
interdisciplinary working has
led to signicant breakthroughs
in healthcare, transportation,
environmental impacts and cultural
diversity; how the cross fertilisation
of ideas and collaborative working
have created new processes,
improved products, better informed
public policy and broadened the
thinking of others to realise this
potential.
RVL: Weve already made big
strides to promote interdisciplinary
research, with initiatives like
Swanseas Institute of Life Science,
where engineering, physics,
biology, and medical research
come together. I am convinced that
these initiatives will be ongoing and
that there will be a strong push to
stimulate the area further.
The Bridging the Gaps programme
has been a great enabler. One of
its most successful activities has
been early adopter/seed corn
funding for new ideas. Whats
your view of this type of activity
and its value?
SW: Supporting burgeoning areas
is a great use of BTG funding
as it often provides early career
researchers with the opportunity to
explore new future areas.
RVL: The seedcorn funding has been
very useful to encourage researchers
to engage in new interdisciplinary
collaborations. At the same time it
has created awareness amongst
researchers about this different kind
of research. The availability of some
small funds has driven researchers
to step outside their own eld and
I feel that thats the highest value.
If more researchers embark on
interdisciplinary research and start
appreciating the challenges, this will
grow the eld, which will produce a
critical mass that is required for the
area to make an impact.
JB: Interdisciplinary working,
especially for early career
researchers, can easily fail
without having a focus. Seed corn
funding provides this focus and
enables early career researchers
to establish a track record for
interdisciplinary working. Seed
corn funding has been proven
to work at Swansea University. It
has enabled the development of
ideas into projects that are more
likely to succeed; researchers
in receipt of BTG funding have
applied for external grants, written
collaborative published outputs, built
up collaborative networks across
campus, within the UK and globally
and have broadened perspectives
within their own discipline.
JP: Yes, this is a good way ahead.
We need to build on strengths
in the University those already
established and where new
interdisciplinary work can take these
strengths to another level. In addition
we need to be alert to innovative
and quirky ideas that emerge from
an interdisciplinary perspective.
TALKING HEADS
I WOULDNT EXPECT
IT TO REPLACE MORE
CONVENTIONAL
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH,
BUT RATHER HAVE A
PLACE ALONGSIDE IT
RESEARCH AS ART
TAVI MURRAY
College of Science
Broken Reections

Its hard to describe the beauty and inspiration of the places in which we work. I am a scientist rather than an
artist or photographer but a landscape like this talks directly to my soul. Even so, a static picture does not do
justice to the moving, dancing, changing lightscapes of an Arctic dawn. Here, the almost perfect reection of
the mountains and sky are broken by the icebergs melting in this Greenland fjord. The icebergs introduce cool
and fresh water and drive the deep circulation delivering deep warm waters to the glacier front, accelerating the
glaciers ow and increasing sea-level rise. These are the true colours of the Arctic.
universities specialising in NanoHealth and medical
technologies, helping to establish Swansea as a
global hub for joint ventures.
With a 50,000 contribution of matched funding,
BTG invested its resource to enable exchanges and
visits to China, France, and the United States of
America, as well as supporting a three day symposium
as part of the Universitys Festival of Research, in
February 2012.
The BGER network benets from exceptional
facilities and expertise across the partner
institutions; it is in the effective exploitation of these
resources that we can expect to nd the solutions to
societys most pressing health issues.
Professor Steve Wilks, Head of the College
of Science, Principal Investigator, BGER
The BGER symposium was a highlight of the project.
Swansea welcomed more than 40 academics and
professionals from 19 partner institutions. With a
particular focus upon early career researchers there
was an opportunity to present and discuss posters as
well as deliver a headline presentation to colleagues
and collaborators.
My research opportunities have been
widened through BGER. Collaborations that were
not conceivable a year ago, have now come
to fruition.
Dr Bella Manshian, Swansea University
As part of BTGs legacy, Swansea University will
continue to support international collaborations
amongst the key partners of the BGER network,
continuing to invest in a global platform for
international thinkers. In particular, work continues with
the Universit Joseph Fourier in Grenoble, France,
Texas A&M University and The Methodist Hospital
Research Institute, Houston, USA.
The Bridging the Gaps programme has successfully
brought together internationally based researchers
to reect upon the global challenges facing society.
By encouraging and facilitating opportunities to
share and discuss perspectives and ideas and by
working together, across disciplines, researchers who
have participated in BTG and BGER can openly
demonstrate the benets of collaborative exchange.
INTERNATIONAL
COLLABORATIONS

American University, Egypt
Canadian Forest Service
Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
Coimbra University, Portugal
Freesenius-Kabi, Germany
Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
Harvard University, USA
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Japan
Indian Institute of Technology, India
NATO
National Autonomous University of Mexico
North Shore University Health Systems, USA
Proctor & Gamble, USA
Texas A&M University, USA
SAPPI, Netherlands
Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology, Sweden
Supreme Council of Antiquities, Egypt
Universit Joseph Fourier, France
GLOBAL REACH
INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS & GLOBAL REACH
T
he world today has many complex challenges
and problems: changes in our climate; illness
and disease; urban development and planning;
cultural and religious tensions; advances in digital
communications; the ability to genetically modify
crops; poverty and providing suitable healthcare and
wellbeing for an increasingly ageing and expanding
population.
The pursuit of solutions to these pressing
issues involves not only inter- and multidisciplinary
approaches but international cooperation
and collaboration.
During the BTG programme, project support has
underpinned 196 new collaborations: 18 of which
were with international partners. These included other
academic institutions, public bodies and commercial
organisations and industries in places as diverse
as China, the USA, France, Portugal, Sweden,
Russia, Japan, Mexico and India. They include many
prestigious and world-leading organisations such as
Georgia Institute of Technology, Harvard University,
the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt, the
Canadian Forest Service, Proctor & Gamble, NATO,
Texas A&M University, the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers in Tokyo, and the Swedish
Institute for Food and Biotechnology.
Many of these collaborations have given
unique and challenging insights into the work
being undertaken.
Our eld work in Canada with the Canadian Forest
Service, has provided a unique opportunity to meet
this challenge [research on the potential of biochar
and wildre charcoal for carbon sequestration],
through interdisciplinary work.
Professor Stefan Doerr, College of Science (BTG
project: Bridging the Knowledge Gap between
Man-Made Biochar and Wildre Charcoal)
Building global collaborations and networks has
been an integral component of the work BTG has
encouraged and so it was natural that BTG also
contribute to the Universitys EPSRC funded
Building Global Engagements in Research Programme
(BGER). BGER was established to facilitate research
exchanges between some of the worlds leading
B
lood clot-related illnesses and conditions claim the lives of
millions of people, each and every year. In 2008, 17.3
million people died from cardiovascular diseases (seven million
deaths were from heart attacks, six million from strokes). Blood
clots are common causes of both conditions.
My academic focus is micro and nanotechnology,
microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and optical MEMS,
device simulation and fabrication technologies; integrated sensors
and lab-on-a-chip technology for point of care applications.
The grant support we had from BTG enabled us to visit other,
world-leading, nanotechnology centres at the Georgia Institute
of Technology and Harvard University, in order to collaborate
with colleagues who specialise in chemical engineering
and drug delivery technologies, to help us rene the work
were undertaking with Piezoelectric Biosensors and Hollow
Microneedle.

Biosensors are analytical devices composed of a recognition
element coupled to a physical transducer (mass, optical,
electrochemical and thermal) for qualitative and/or quantitative
detection of biological analytes (a chemical substance or
component). Piezoelectric biosensors use piezoelectric ceramic
resonators as the core component of the biosensor. Such
ADVANCED PIEZOELECTRIC
BIOSENSORS AND HOLLOWED
MICRONEEDLE FOR BLOOD
SAMPLING AND DRUG
DELIVERY APPLICATION
CASE STUDY
biosensors are able to detect, for example,
multiple biomarkers to aid in early detection
of common types of cancer and heart
disease (Yuen, 2009).
A novel microsystem for blood clotting
diagnosis is currently being developed at
Swansea University. The system is based
upon the surface acoustic wave, using a
piezoelectric substrate to analyse the blood
clots.
Microneedle technology centres on
painless perforation of the stratum corneum
the outermost skin layer. This layer is
only 1020microns thick, but poses a
remarkable barrier to the passage of
therapeutics, meaning that transdermal
delivery is currently limited to a low dose
of low molecular weight drugs e.g. for
the treatment of nicotine addiction, motion
sickness and hormone replacement therapy.
Microneedles create tiny pores in the
stratum corneum, thereby increasing its
permeability several thousand-fold, and
because these devices are not long enough
to stimulate the underlying nerve endings,
use of microneedles is completely painless
(Tyndall National Institute, Ireland). At
Swansea, we have successfully developed
silicon-based Microneedles.

Being able to collaborate with chemists,
chemical engineers, microbiologists and
world-leading semiconductor and MEMS
company SPTS Technologies has enabled
me to rene the research Im doing. I have
been able to visit the labs and discuss,
in person, the work were undertaking
at Swansea. As a result we are much
clearer about the clinical requirements of
Microneedle for healthcare applications
and we have been successful in applying
to the Technology Strategy Board for a two
year continuation of funding, for research
into Microneedles and its bio-medical
applications.
Co-investigators:
Dr Owen Guy, Dr Karl Hawkins, Regents
Profesor Zhong Lin Wang, Georgia
Institute of Technology, Regents Professor
Mark R. Prausnitz, Georgia Institute of
Technology
y.liu@swansea.ac.uk
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: DR YUFEI LIU, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
AS A RESULT WE
ARE MUCH CLEARER
ABOUT THE CLINICAL
REQUIREMENTS
OF MICRONEEDLE
FOR HEALTHCARE
APPLICATIONS
CASE STUDY
M
athematical models are increasingly
important engineering and scientic
tools used to forecast properties and
behaviours of systems. In fact, we all
create mathematical models of systems in
our heads when trying to understand the
world around us, though only a handful
of us would refer to it this way.
Having spent more than 15 years
modelling telecommunications systems,
I opened up the focus of my research to
contemplate new areas that require truly
innovative thinking. I believe engineers
need to acquire universal problem solving
skills to enable them to engage with a
range of diverse problems.
The real challenge is that for every system
there are innitely many such possible
models. How simple or complex these
models are is unrelated to how well they
describe the observed systems; nding
a simple and yet accurate model of the
system can be a very difcult task.
Biological and social systems are far
more complex than any technology.
Until now, these systems have been
studied largely by researchers with
limited mathematical and engineering
backgrounds. To build models of
biological and social systems, we
need to collect large amounts of
measurements; but choosing the right
measurement is an art and another
big challenge. Fortunately, engineers
and mathematicians can help they
can dene which measurements are
needed and use sophisticated and well-
established methods to create models that
are just complex enough to accurately
describe the observed systems.
Interestingly, many good models of
complex systems including biological and
social systems appear to be networks
of mutually interconnected nodes. We
have semantic networks of knowledge,
languages and the internet; networks
of roads and utilities; atomic networks,
social networks and many others. Many
seem to have similar structures as well as
properties.

With support from BTG, we established
an open forum for researchers keen to
develop interdisciplinary collaborations
through their shared interest in networks.
We brought many national and
international speakers to Swansea,
including business woman and the
thought-leader on knowledge networks,
Julia Hobsbawm, Professor Matthew
Turner from Warwick University, Professor
Bo Ebenman from Linkping University,
Sweden, Professor Ed Jonkheere from
the University of Southern California and
Dr Fabrice Saffre, Chief Researcher at
the ETISALT BT Innovation Centre, to
consider and dene problems within their
respective disciplines and networks and
explore, new, interdisciplinary network
solutions.

This activity has been tremendously
successful and could pave the way to
dene future academic disciplines that
will consider holistic views of systems
as networks of mutually interconnected
subsystems.

Co-investigators: Drs Edwin Beggs,
Rowan Brown, Christine Dobbs, Jeffrey
Giansiracusa, Rob Lowe, Aditee Mitra,
Adam Mosley, Navonil Mustafee,
Mamata Parhi, Sophie Schirmer and
Richard Smith and Professors Caroline
Franklin, David Skibinski
p.loskot@swansea.ac.uk
sites.google.com/site/nrgswansea/
home
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: DR PAVEL LOSKOT, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
AWARDED: 500, BTG BRIDGING FUND, MARCH 2012; 7,500, SEPTEMBER 2012
ESTABLISHING A
NETWORKS RESEARCH
GROUP AT SWANSEA
UNIVERSITY
TULLY MEETINGS
SAVING THE NHS WITH GOOD I.T.
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: PROFESSOR HAROLD THIMBLEBY, COLLEGE OF SCIENCE
CASE STUDY
I
n 2002, the UK Government created
the National Programme for IT (NPfIT)
to computerise the NHS. What was the
worlds largest civilian computer project
oundered: after spending 12 billion,
the new coalition Government scrapped
it just seven years later. Across in the
USA, Obamacare, the common term
for the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act, is another political disaster.
After utopian promises and almost
$1billion spent on it, less than 1% of
those who visited the agship website
in the rst week of use, managed to
complete any application, and many of
those applications were garbled.

Two countries: two massive IT projects in
healthcare failed. But why? Colin Tully
was one of the founders of NHS23:
twenty three UK professors of computer
science who tried to help sort out the
obvious mess of NPfIT. Unfortunately
their efforts fell on deaf ears. Colin Tully
died in December 2007, and with his
familys strong support, we created Tully
Meetings in his memory. We based
the meetings on the Chatham House
Rule and used it to draw together top
computer scientists and healthcare
professionals to have frank and open
discussions about the problems, but more
to think about what we had learned and
how we could ensure the future was
more successful.
With this vision we formed
interdisciplinary team at Swansea:
Professor John Williams from the NHS
and the School of Medicine, Professor
David Ford from the Institute of Life
Sciences, Professor Deb Fitzsimmons
from Health Sciences and Professor
Harold Thimbleby from Computer
Science. We were later joined by Sue
Heatherington, a consultant. With the
team formed and BTG funding awarded
we were able to make the vision into a
very high-prole success.
We staged our rst meeting at the Royal
College of Physicians and attracted a
signicant number of top professionals,
giving us the condence and momentum
to press ahead with our agenda.
We have since run a further four Tully
meetings.
These interdisciplinary meetings have
created spin-off energy and ambition.
We have noted that the main funding
bodies do not fund research into Health
IT problems. And nobody but us has
pointed out the coincidence between
no research and massive national
failures. Instead, healthcare funding
focuses on conventional science,
almost obsessively looking down at
bugs through microscopes, when the
failings of IT systems are large, system-
wide, multi-disciplinary problems: the
problems arent software bugs but
total misunderstandings of how people
in healthcare work. Understanding
healthcare from the rigorous perspective
of computer science is a radical research
programme that has huge potential.
Recognising this, outputs from the
Tully Meetings were fed into the Royal
College of Physicians Future Hospital
Commission, a vision for future services
and patient care in hospitals. Yes, some
of it will be computerised, and we
were able to put some reality into those
visions.
Weve submitted several research
council proposals building on the Tully
Meetings. So far we havent been
successful, but we are learning. One of
the problems sums up the whole issue so
well: we put in a proposal to research
patient records (how do you best
computerise all the notes on a patients
tests, symptoms, etc. which sometimes
runs to being a stack of paper a metre
high and most of it somewhere
other than where the patient is being
seen). Referees rejected it because
they thought, whats the problem, just
computerise the records! But that nave
optimism in IT is exactly why NPfIT and
Obamacare failed and are failing.
(Yes its straightforward to computerise
a metre of patient notes, but thats not
the problem. How do you prioritise
the important facts to summarise on the
small computer screen so that anybody
reading them does not have to spend all
day doing it?)
BTG allowed us to transform a research
problem into a national programme. We
now have a growing body of friends
and colleagues across the UK. We
arent there yet, but the idea has got
momentum. Our next step is to explore
funding such as EPSRCs Network
Grants, which are larger-scale funds for
this type of activity. In the longer run, we
need to build up relationships so that
when people put in research proposals
to improve Healthcare IT, they go out
into a supportive community who are
aligned with the goals.
Co-Investigators: Professor John
Williams, Professor Deb Fitzsimmons,
Professor David Ford
harold@thimbleby@net
cs.swan.ac.uk/~csharold/tully/
www.cs.swan.ac.uk/~csharold/
BTGS LEGACY
BTGS LEGACY:
SETTING A NEW VISION
As a campus-based university,
Swansea has always fostered a
close-knit research community, and
has long encouraged interdisciplinary
collaboration.
But the obstacles have always been
present; perceived boundaries within
and between academic elds;
differences of methodology and
language, and uncertainty about
how disciplines can complement
each other. Before Swansea was
awarded the funding for BTG there
was a vision at the University and
amongst a cohort of researchers
to see far more collaboration and
enhanced interdisciplinary research
integrated within the research
community.
The funding from EPSRC enabled
that vision to become a reality. With
three years dedicated resource,
activity, encouragement and support,
BTG has transformed the Universitys
research culture.
As the programme objectives
stated, it initiated many new
and long-term collaborations; it
stimulated innovative approaches to
collaboration, increased the cross-
fertilisation of ideas across discipline
boundaries, and it enabled Swansea
University to begin to embed
interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary
research across its campus. BTG has
clearly begun to shape a new future
for research and for researchers.
BTG has had a signicant impact
stimulating interdisciplinary
research that would not otherwise
have occurred.
Dr Gwyneth Davies, College of
Medicine
Embedding the practices and processes BTG has initiated is our
new task and vision, with the aim of underpinning and enhancing
the Universitys ambition to be recognised as one of the UKs leading
research-intensive institutions.
To this end, in the autumn of 2013, the University initiated a new round
of seedcorn funding, adopting the BTG model where researchers
review each others proposals and encouraging early career and
postgraduate research students to lead projects. A panel, drawn from
across the Colleges and comprising senior academics and early career
researchers, made its rst allocation of funds in December 2013.
Perpetuating the successful international collaborations which have arisen
through BTG and BGER is also an aspect of the ongoing work, which
will continue to be supported through an active fund to facilitate travel.
BTG enabled us to widen academic and intellectual pursuits,
consolidating and building fruitful collaborations.
Dr Hamid Tamaddon, College of Engineering
Elements of the BTG programme have also been integrated into the
Universitys EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA), designed to support
researchers aligned primarily to the Universitys EPSRC research portfolio in
embedding impact within their research activities. For example, experience
of bringing researchers together for interdisciplinary workshops and
sandpits will support the delivery of further sandpits under the IAA. Training
materials developed through BTG (such as the media toolkit) will be used to
help IAA researchers promote their research and secure greater impact.
And researchers across the University
are increasingly supportive of
developing interdisciplinary
research proposals. Several
proposals for research that cross
discipline boundaries have already
been submitted to RCUK, with
gerontologists collaborating with
computer scientists, linguists also
collaborating with computer scientists,
and engineers collaborating with
bioscientists.
Overseeing much of this and other
interdisciplinary research activity is
a permanent staff role which builds
upon that performed by the BTG
Programme Manager. This role forms
part of an integrated team across the
University, concerned with strategic
research, which will take forward
and develop further many of the
areas so successfully initiated by
BTG.
BTG has been brilliant! It has given
the University a boost in morale
and culture.
Dr Michelle Lee, College of Human
and Health Sciences
The BTG experience has not
nished yet; but its been an
exciting journey of discovery.
Dr Cristina Izura, College of Human
and Health Sciences
National:
Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board
British Medical Association
CADW
Edinburgh Napier University
National Botanic Garden of Wales
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
New Scientist
NHS Wales
Proctor & Gamble
Research Councils UK
Royal Academy of Arts
Royal College of Physicians
Royal Institution
Shakespeares Globe Theatre
SPTS Technology Ltd
TATA Steel
The Mary Rose Trust
UCL
University of Aberystwyth
University of Birmingham
University of Cardiff
University of Edinburgh
University of Essex
University of Nottingham
Wellcome Images
Wellstream GE
International:
American University, Egypt
Canadian Forest Service
Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
Coimbra University, Portugal
Freesenius-Kabi, Germany
Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
Harvard University, USA
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Japan
Indian Institute of Technology, India
NATO
National Autonomous University of Mexico
North Shore University Health Systems, USA
Proctor & Gamble, USA
Texas A&M University, USA
SAPPI, Netherlands
Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology, Sweden
Supreme Council of Antiquities, Egypt
Universit Joseph Fourier, France
BTG
EXTERNAL COLLABORATORS
BTG EXTERNAL COLLABORATORS RESEARCH AS ART
ELIZABETH
SACKETT
Pac Man
This is an image of a fracture
surface from a new novel laser
peening condition used to
apply deep residual stresses
to improve the materials
performance. The features
on the specimen have been
modied in photoshop to
emphasise the effect the laser
penning has on the surface
of the specimen. Material
properties are vital in the
design and manufacturing of
all component parts. This is
especially true when designing
components for aero engines,
as these materials are exposed
to extreme conditions. This
research allows detailed
understanding into how
materials behave when these
compressive stresses are
applied, and then how they
perform in service in an engine,
by replicating the conditions the
materials see when in service
using testing machines. This
information can be entered into
computer models which are
used to predict safe operating
lives of components.
BTG AWARDS
BTG Bridging Fund:
Dr Pavel Loskot, Engineering 500
Dr Navonil Mustafee, Business 300
Dr Alison Williams, Modern Languages 184
Dr Max Wilson, Computer Science 289
Dr Yan Wu, Political & Cultural Studies 494
Dr Yan Wu, Political & Cultural Studies 987
Seed Corn Funding 2009:
Dr Adam Booth, Glaciology: Collaborative
Investigation of the Moalla mortuary site, Upper
Egypt: religion, ritual and radar 5,964
Dr Will Bryan, Physics: AVT Pike F-421 1.2 CCD
FireWire. B Monochrome Camera and lenses
6,342
Dr Gwyneth Davies, Medicine: Body composition
analyser 975
Dr Peter Davies, Medicine: Jenoptilc C5 digital
microscope camera 4,800
Dr Stefan Eriksson, Physics: Signal generator
5,490
Dr Parisa Eslambolchilar, Computer Science:
Mobile Wireless Vital Signs Monitoring System
6,710
Professor Billie Hunter, Midwifery: Distinguished
Lecture: Professor James Reason 2,100
Dr Richard Johnston, Engineering: SURF Image
Competition 1,150
Professor Tavi Murray, Geography: Valeport Midas
electromagnetic current meter 8,294
Professor Michael Sheehan, Political & Cultural
Studies: Computer Assisted Simulation of Balance
Power Systems in International Relations 3,800
Professor Cathy Thornton, Medicine: Countess
automated cell counter 3,180
Professor Mike Webster, Engineering: Healthcare
and Computational Rheology: Biorheology &
Biouids 3,900
Professor John Williams, Medicine: Thinking out of
the box: New technology perspectives in
healthcare 2,300
Professor Rory P Wilson, Biosciences: What can
movement tell us about the mind? 4,764
BTG Escalator Fund September 2010:
Dr Thomas Chen, Engineering: Identity, trust and
security in cyberspace 4,100
Dr Richard Johnston, Engineering: Research as Art
competition 1,950
Dr Suzy Moody, Biomedicine: SURF
interdisciplinary seminar series 400
Professor Harold Thimbleby, Computer Science:
Tully Meeting: Saving the NHS with good IT
5,150
BTG Escalator Fund March 2011:
Dr Gabriela Jiga-Boy, Psychology: The Allure of
Good Plans: How mobile phone-based feedback
can boost the positive effect of concrete plans on
health behaviour change 3,950
Dr Bob Laramee, Computer Science: Advanced
Visualisation of Electroencephalography (EEG)
Data 7,000
Dr Michelle Lee, Psychology: Modelling choice
behaviour: what can psychologists and economists
learn from each other 1,614
Dr Neil Loader, Geography: Life on the Shelf; a
study of fungal virulence 2,450
Dr Raoul van Loon, Engineering: Studying
lymphatic physiology through computational
modelling 7,500
Dr Kasia Szpakowska, Egyptology: Experimental
breakage of clay cobra gurines: ritual or
accident? 2,000
Dr Hamid Tamaddon, Engineering: Biorheology,
cancer conditions and modelling 7,446
Professor John Tucker, Computer Science: Science
and Technology in context an idea generator
2,500
Dr Max Wilson, Computer Science: Web Science
at Swansea: Establishing Wales leading centre for
Web science 8,452
Mrs Elisabeth Bennett, University Archives: Archives
of the Welsh Steel Industry 500
Professor Marcus Doel, Geography: New
nancial Subjects in New Financial Times:
University tuition fees, student subjectivities, and
the fate of communities 19,650
Dr Tess Fitzpatrick, Arts and Humanities: Tracking
lexical retrieval behaviour in semantic dementia
1,418
Dr Cristina Izura, Psychology: A comparative
exploration of the distinctive qualities of oral, hand
written and typed language in memory and recall
5,049
Dr Cristina Izura & Professor Nuria Lorenzo-Dus,
Psychology/Linguistics: Communicative proling of
online sex predators 4,500
Dr Stuart Macdonald, Law: Cyber-terrorism: a
multidisciplinary perspective 4,880
Dr Yamni Nigam, Human and Health Sciences:
Clots from Crabs: Can factors from invertebrates
act as clotting agents for human blood? 8,108
Dr Paula Row, College of Medicine: Preliminary in
vitro study to investigate the antibacterial activity of
essential oils of culinary and medicinal herbs
against clinically relevant gut bacteria 5,000
Dr Xianghua Xie, College of Science: Swansea
Biomedical Computing Laboratory (BMC-Lab): A
multi-disciplinary Research Unit 2,200
BTG AWARDS
BTG Escalator Fund March 2012:
Dr Tom Cheesman, Arts & Humanities: Translation
Arrays 3,000
Dr Ed Dudley, Medicine: Development of Thermal
Desorption Gas Chromatography for the Study
of Environmental Mammalian Semiochemicals
(Volatile Organic Compounds) as a Novel Method
of Population Study 6,937
Dr Eleanor Fisher, Science: Action for Low Carbon
Economy: Community Engagement for Social
Transformation 2,983
Dr Michael Gravenor, Medicine: A Foundation for
Large Scale Phylogenetic Analysis using HPC
Wales 7,141
Dr Robert Laramee, Science: Visualisation of Flow
Past a Marine Turbine: The Information-Assisted
Search for Sustainable Energy 5,000
Dr Paul Ledger, Engineering: Towards the Next
Generation of Simulation Tools for Identifying the
Physical Characteristics of Ice-Mass Substrates from
Seismoelectric Data 3,000
Dr Amit Mehta, Engineering: Antennas as
BioSensors for Cancer Detection 5,950
Mr Nick Owen, Engineering: Analysis of Attributes
of Archers from the Mary Rose 6,780
Mr Nick Owen, Engineering: A University Based
Motor Development Programme for Children with
Coordination Decits 8,505
Professor Mike Webster, Engineering: Complex
Rheological Materials and Complex Flows
7,400
Professor Maurice Whitehead, Arts & Humanities:
Bowling Balls or Hidden Halls? A Geophysical
Investigation of the Architectural Mysteries at
Raglan Castle, Monmouthshire 2,641
Dr Ambroise Castaing, Engineering:
Toxicological study of carbon nanotubes and
Imogolite 2,128
Dr John Dingley, Medicine: Emergency
Medical Oxygen: Development of an instant
oxygen generation solution for difcult
environments without use of compressed gas
cylinders 5,390
Dr Shareen Doak, Medicine: Nano-scale sensing
of biological exposure 7,494
Dr Stefan Doerr, Science: Bridging the knowledge
gap between man-made Biochar and wildre
charcoal 7,000
Dr Connie Pey Fen Eng, Engineering: Microneedle
Pain Free Technology for Drug Delivery
Applications 7,390
Dr K Ennser, Engineering: Photonic sensors for
physiological monitoring 7,339
Dr Kate Evans, Science: Bilingual SURF seminar
series 750
Dr Daniel Johnson, Engineering: Investigation into
the internal ne structure of Ensis siliqua shells
2,672
Dr Richard Johnston, Engineering: SURF Research
as Art 12,261
Dr Nicole Koenig-Lewis, Business, Economics and
Law: Identifying the role of consumer behaviour in
(re)shaping future water utility business models
under climate change impact 7,190
Dr Yufei Liu, Engineering: Advanced piezoelectric
biosensors and hollowed microneedle for blood
sampling and drug delivery application
5,000
Dr Pavel Loskot, Engineering: Establishing
Networks Research Group at Swansea University
7,500
Dr Yamni Nigam, Human & Health Sciences: The
Cockroach Factor 14,998
Dr Benjamin Palmer, Engineering: ZnO Quantum
Dot Biosensors 3,000
Professor Gareth Stratton, Engineering: Application
of nanotechnology and computer science to the
development of physical activity sensors 9,744
Dr Kar Seng (Vincent) Teng, Engineering: Effective
Management of Chronic Diseases and Ageing
Population through Innovative Technology
1,992
RESEARCH AS ART
RAMI MALKI
Marine Renewable Energy Group,
When the Blue Stuff Hits the Fan

This image shows the ow structure
evolving downstream of a tidal
stream turbine, generating renewable
energy from the sea. Computational
Fluid Dynamics Modelling is used
to predict the ow features around
rotating blades, and stream surfaces
are implemented to highlight the
movement of ow within swirling
regions downstream. Visualising
three-dimensional ow features in two-
dimensional images has always posed
difculties for engineers. It is through
our collaboration with colleagues
specialising in ow visualisations within
the Department of Computer Science
that we, within the Marine Energy
Research Group, were able to produce
images such as this one. Both the
computer model and the visualisation
technique are pushing the boundaries
in their own elds, bringing them
together makes something unique.
Within the image, a single turbine is
shown upstream of a second row of
devices located further downstream.
The swirling surfaces provide an insight
into the ow structure experienced by
the downstream devices.
BTG STEERING GROUP AND TEAM
BTG STEERING
GROUP
AND TEAM
Principal Investigator
Professor Harold Thimbleby, College of Science
Co-Investigators
Professor Huw Bowen, College of Arts &
Humanities
Professor Mike Charlton, College of Science
Professor Tavi Murray, College of Science
Professor Judith Phillips OBE, College of Human &
Health Sciences
Professor Volker Roeben, College of Business,
Economics & Law
Professor John Tucker, College of Science
Professor Chris Williams, College of Arts &
Humanities
Professor Rhodri Williams, College of Engineering
Programme Manager
Ms Andrea J. Buck
Programme Ofcer
Ms Rhian M. Morris
Programme Assistant
Dr Victoria Wang
RESEARCH AS ART
MIRANDA
WHITTEN
College of Medicine
Deadly Excretions
This image has been created by a
colony of blood-sucking insects called
Rhodnius prolixus. The paint is their
excrement which can harbour the
parasite responsible for the deadly
Chagas disease, which kills more
than 12,000 people each year. For
us, though, its also a source of new
hope. We have taken the symbiotic
(friendly) bacteria from the excrement,
and engineered the bacteria to
synthesize a double-stranded RNA
product that silences the insects genes.
After being fed back to the insect, the
bacteria re-colonize the gut and can
silence its genes indenitely. We can
now use this technology to study insect
gene function, and to develop a novel
method of biological control aimed at
reducing disease transmission.
We hope you have been inspired by the researchers and the research in this publication. If you would like to make
contact with anyone who is featured, discuss Swansea Universitys BTG programme or explore opportunities for
interdisciplinary collaborations with Swansea University, please contact Andrea Buck, in the rst instance.
Andrea J. Buck
Bridging the Gaps Programme Manager
Planning & Strategic Projects Unit
Swansea University
Singleton Abbey
Swansea
SA2 8PP
a.j.buck@swansea.ac.uk
+44 (0)1792 606669
www.swansea.ac.uk/research/btg
CONTACT

Bridging The Gaps Publication

Hochgeladen von

Dokumentinformationen

Originaltitel

Copyright

Verfügbare Formate

Dieses Dokument teilen

Dokument teilen oder einbetten

Freigabeoptionen

Stufen Sie dieses Dokument als nützlich ein?

Sind diese Inhalte unangemessen?

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

Bridging The Gaps Publication

Hochgeladen von

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

BRIDGING THE GAPS > 1

BRIDGING THE GAPS > 2

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen