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Engineered llama antibodies neutralise COVID-19 virus
 Lab tests by UKRI-supported researchers have shown that antibodies derived from llamas can neutralise the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The team involves researchers from the Rosalind Franklin Institute, which is funded by UKRI’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the University of Oxford, the UKRI-supported Diamond Light Source, and Public Health England. They hope the antibodies – known as nanobodies due to their small size – could eventually be developed as a treatment for patients with severe COVID-19. The peer-reviewed findings are published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.
Llamas, camels and alpacas naturally produce quantities of small antibodies with a simpler structure that can be turned into nanobodies. The team engineered their new nanobodies using a collection of antibodies taken from llama blood cells. They have shown that the nanobodies bind tightly to the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, blocking it from entering human cells and stopping infection.
Oxford trial funded by UKRI offers new hope for a COVID vaccine
Early stage human trials of a COVID-19 vaccine have found it produces strong immune response and shows no early safety concerns, according to results published on 20 July 2020, in The Lancet.
The team of scientists at Oxford University’s Jenner Institute and Oxford Vaccine Group, who are funded by UKRI’s Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) as part of the COVID-19 rapid research response, say they have taken the next step towards the discovery of a safe, effective and accessible vaccine against coronavirus.
The vaccine is similar to a vaccine the team previously developed for the closely related MERS coronavirus, which showed promise in animal and early-stage human testing. Their earlier research and vaccine development were funded by the Medical Research Council, and the UK Vaccines Network – a joint UKRI and Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) initiative.
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Understanding coronavirus, COVID-19 and epidemics
Governments and scientists around the world have moved quickly to address the COVID-19 outbreak. We have decades of applied research that has informed our understanding of viruses, how they spread and whether they can be treated.
Since January 2020, scientists have uncovered the genetics and structure of the novel coronavirus, which has led to the acceleration of work towards a vaccine.
IAA Repurpose Success Stories From Oxford
Impact Acceleration Accounts (IAAs) are strategic awards provided to UK institutions to support knowledge exchange and impact from EPSRC-funded research. Responsibility for IAA management is devolved to the institutions who can respond to opportunities in flexible, responsive and creative ways. EPSRC currently funds 33 IAAs with a total investment since 2012 of £175M.
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, many institutions in receipt of these funds have found ways to repurpose them to focus on research to support the fight against the virus. For example, a team from the University of Oxford’s Engineering Science Department and the Oxford Suzhou Centre for Advanced Research (OSCAR) have used their IAA to develop a rapid testing method for Covid-19. The new test is based on RT-LAMP (Reverse transcription – loop mediated isothermal amplification) and uses multiple primers to specifically recognise SARS-CoV-2 RNA and RNA fragments. With built-in checks to prevent false positives or false negatives, the test can also run with swab sample solution directly without the RNA extraction and give colorimetric display result in just 30 min.
Another example of this is OxVent; a ventilator designed by an interdisciplinary team of engineers, anaesthetists and surgeons from the University of Oxford and King’s College London to meet the upsurge in requirement for ventilators. OxVent can offer both mandatory and spontaneous ventilation modes, and is simply designed with minimal moving parts, lowering the risk of failure, and making it easy to operate. It is also scalable, with most parts available in the NHS supply chain, and non-competitive with supplies for conventional ventilators.
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Franklin 100: Celebrating the life and career of Rosalind Franklin
 Saturday 25 July marked 100 years since the birth of Rosalind Franklin, whose research helped change the world.
The Rosalind Franklin Institute, an independent charity funded through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and managed by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, is leading the tributes, which include a commemorative 50p piece produced by the Royal Mint to celebrate the occasion, and a celebration of Franklin by King’s College London (KCL).
 EPSRC to launch new Fellowships scheme
A new, more flexible fellowship scheme, ‘Open’ and ‘Open Plus’ Fellowships, will be announced by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) during autumn/winter 2020.
Open Fellowships will offer a new vision which enables researchers to design a fellowship to fit their research ideas, their career stage, development needs and leadership aspirations. The scheme will be open for all EPSRC remit areas, including multi-disciplinary work.
£3 million awarded to help tackle air pollution
 UK Research and Innovation has awarded £3 million to support six research networks that will investigate solutions to air pollution.
Poor air quality is the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK, according to DEFRA’s Clean Air Strategy.
The new multidisciplinary networks will drive forward research and innovation to help tackle major air quality challenges within both indoor and outdoor spaces including home, school, work, and public transport.
View the full article on the UKRI website
Coronavirus updates
The UKRI Coronavirus Hub gives you the latest information on the vital work of UKRI and our community in response to the crisis, including the grants and awards we have made, and details of our ongoing call to fund your ideas to limit the outbreak and protect life.
Following recent government recommendations as a result of Covid-19 (Coronavirus), teams across UK Research and Innovation will be working remotely for the foreseeable future.
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Multidisciplinary research between the cyber-security Research Institutes
We are inviting ambitious proposals for research activities to bridge across the different cyber-security research communities operating under the four joint EPSRC-NCSC Research Institutes. The successful projects will be of a scale to add strategically important capacity and capability to the vibrant ecosystem of cyber security research and practice in the UK.
Closing Date: 15 September 2020
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ARCHER 2 Pioneer Projects
This call is for researchers to apply for large amounts of computational resource to conduct computationally intensive modelling, simulation and calculations. Projects should be ambitious and pioneering, we encourage a high-risk/high- reward strategy, and outputs should have significant potential for a high future impact. EPSRC wants to encourage researchers to consider what they can do to significantly push the boundaries in computational research using High Performance Computing (HPC) in their field. This call is the successor to the ARCHER Leadership calls, which ran prior to 2020.
Closing Date: 12 October 2020
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Get funding for ideas that address COVID-19
Proposals are invited for short-term projects addressing and mitigating the health, social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Researchers holding existing UKRI standard grants should in the first instance consider whether they could repurpose that funding to address the objectives of this call. Repurposing your existing grant is the quickest way to start the research.
Project length: Up to 18 months
Closing date: none - apply at any time
Funding: 80% of the full economic cost (fEC) for Research Council funding. For Innovate UK funding, State Aid rules apply. Please see guidance here.
Award range: There is no specific budget for this call. We are interested in funding research of any scale that can demonstrate it will deliver impact in the project length.
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Stephen Hawking Fellowships
The Stephen Hawking fellowships will support and develop the next generation of visionary scientists in theoretical physics at the beginning of their career. UKRI are providing funding for five annual calls delivered jointly by EPSRC and STFC.
Closing Date: 18 November 2020
International Centre-to-Centre Research Collaborations
This is the second round of a new EPSRC funding initiative which aims to provide opportunities for leading UK research groups to work in partnership with the best international researchers, with projects to start from summer 2021 onwards.The objectives of this call are:
1.To enable high-profile, best-with-best international collaborations focused on excellent research with impact
2.To contribute to EPSRC strategy by supporting high-quality research collaborations which align with our research area strategies and address the priorities related to Delivery Plan objectives
3.To further the UK’s strategic needs in international science and innovation partnerships.
Closing Date: 08 September 2020
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Falling Walls Conference 2020
You may well already be aware that this year’s Falling Walls Conference will be held digitally, from 4-9th November. This means that there will be more opportunity for international guests to participate.
Contacts here have asked us to promote the conference within our networks, and they encourage UK universities and research institutions to identify and nominate promising researchers to participate in this year’s digital conference. They look forward to presentations from UK partners on groundbreaking scientific discoveries that may qualify for the Falling Walls Award 2020.
Nominations are open in 10 categories:
1. Life Sciences,
2. Physical Sciences,
3. Engineering and Technology,
4. Social Sciences and the Humanities,
5. Science in the Arts,
6. Digital Education,
7. Science and Innovation Management,
8. Emerging Talents (Falling Walls Lab),
9. Science Start-ups (Falling Walls Venture),
10. Science Engagement (Falling Walls Engage).
The Sony Research Award Program 2020
The Sony Research Award Program is expanding to Europe in its fifth year.
The Research Award Program will be open to Universities in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States of America, with awards of up to $150,000 USD per year for each accepted proposal across emerging and innovative technologies.
Universities can apply for funding to engage in cutting-edge research across three broad subject categories:
• Information Technology
• Devices & Materials
• Life Sciences
Applications are now open until 15th September 2020.
For further details visit the Sony Research Award Program website
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