Delivering impact - science matters

STFC’s knowledge, skills, facilities and resources benefits UK citizens, the economy and society. This impact is considerable – from knowledge about the fundamental nature of the Universe to designing new drugs, mapping the brain, providing highly skilled training and creating new businesses.

The effect of STFC research covers an impressive range of areas including:

• energy – where nanotechnology techniques are being used to create future energy sources and clean, fast and safe ways of storing hydrogen as fuel
• biomedicine – examining proteins with super-microscopes to help researchers design new, more effective drugs
• security – technology is currently being developed to help detect liquid explosives
• environment – neutrons and muons produced by the ISIS synchrotron can study particles that affect our climate and determine the structure of materials to aid research into clean energy
• the economy – STFC research creates new businesses and spin-out companies, produces a highly skilled workforce and attracts scientists and engineers from around the world The ability to examine matter at a sub-atomic scale produces considerable paybacks.

Synchrotron radiation produced by the Diamond Light Source on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus for example, is helping scientists better understand the brain’s chemistry. Mapping the brain with intense beams of light is leading to the possibility of early MRI detection and diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease.

Diamond is also used to help design new drugs and STFC’s computational expertise allows simulations for predicting how molecules interact, potentially preventing any unwanted side effects.

STFC’s pioneering research delivers world class scientific excellence in a variety of fields. This science is both application-led and driven by curiosity.

Astronomy, particle and nuclear physics research, as well as uncovering fundamental truths about our Universe, attracts young people into science and into the UK’s skilled labour market.

STFC supports scientists at 20 UK universities who are involved in the Large Hadron Collider project at CERN, Europe’s particle physics laboratory in Switzerland. Researchers using the most powerful particle accelerator ever built hope to gain new insight into our Universe – from dark matter and how nature works - to the existence of extra dimensions.

STFC research has produced a number of successful businesses and makes an important contribution to the UK’s economy.

Heptares Therapeutics Ltd, the Medical Research Council spin-out founded in 2007, secured £21 million of equity finance in 2008-2009 to speed up the development of small-molecule drug candidates for treating diseases. This work was performed at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, through STFC’s subscription to the facility.

Oxsensis Limited, a spin-out company from STFC’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, developed a sensor to improve the efficiency of combusting fossil fuels. This promotes a cleaner environment by saving tens of millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.

STFC’s skill base also includes an important knowledge economy. More than 600 universities across Europe, for example, rely on STFC’s Microelectronics Support Centre. Based at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, it supplies commercial design tool software to microelectronics design engineers at affordable prices. This helps to produce highly skilled graduates for the UK and Europe.

Solutions to today’s global challenges require a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach. Developing two National Science and Innovation Campuses at Daresbury and Harwell has increased the potential for even stronger collaboration and innovation between research councils, universities, national laboratories and industry.

Contact

Julia Maddock
Manager, External Communications
Tel: +44 (0)1793 442 094
Email: julia.maddock@stfc.ac.uk

For media enquiries please telephone: +44 (0)1793 442 094

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the Delivering impact - science matters factsheet (PDF - 3014kB) (link opens in a new window)

Version 01 - May 2010