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8/12/2019 Bridging the Gaps Publication

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BRIDGINGTHE

GAPS

WITH GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM


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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 WithoutFalling 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 rstinstance: [email protected], +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 BloodClotting Agents For Human Blood?

46 Case Study Analysis of the Attributes of Archers Using Human Remains fromthe Mary Rose Warship

48 Talking Heads Perspectives on Interdisciplinary Research

54 International Collaborations & Global Reach

56 Case Study Advanced Piezoelectric Biosensors and Hollowed Microneedlefor 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


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FOREWORD

Bridging the Gaps (BTG) is a story of threeparts. It was an idea that attracted almost1 million of Research Council funding intothe University; it was a project to share thatmoney in the University to bridge gaps acrossdisciplines; and it remains an active visionto transform how we think about workingtogether and growing as a powerful,research-led University.

The key idea behind getting the funding was thatexciting things can happen from the grassrootsup. Swansea University is full of fantastic ideasthat need support, nurturing and celebrating. BTGanticipated a festival of ideas waiting to happen.Many researchers turn their focus outwardsand their research then becomes invisible totheir colleagues, if not just within departmentsthen certainly further across the wider Universitycommunity. Key, then, to the original proposalwas the intent to provide structures to encouragethe unexpected, and to help new ideas growacross the University. This is quite a departurefrom the usual high-level, top-down, pre-plannedsafe research planning! In fact, comparedto many other BTG projects across the UK thatwere funded, we were distinctive in not having apre-planned research agenda. We did t want toresearch in preconceived elds, but instead wewanted to create a culture where new research and new research networks would grow.

Universities often feel they do not have enoughmoney, and it is easy to think that researcherswith less resource deserve more. This is scarcity

thinking. Instead, BTG brought a stream offresh money into the University and we decidedright away to allocate it to the most promisingprojects. Moreover, we decided to do so in anopen way, relying on colleagues as referees tohelp assess quality and promise. Not only didreferees learn about what was going on, peopleproposing ideas to be funded tried harder tothink through and explain their ideas so refereescould see how they would work. And they didwork. For every 1 we spent on projects, theUniversity has already gained more than 6 innew external funding.

We did not fund anything that did not havea proposal; this is the same as saying we didnot fund anything that had no serious thinkingbehind it. For the cost of writing a few words ina proposal we transformed attitudes to funding,and for some people it quickly helped them overthe rst hurdle of writing external grant proposals.

But BTG was not about funding, although thisis an obvious proxy for research health. BTGwas and is about building visible andeffective research celebrations across disciplines.This publication is a written festival, samplingthe diversity of the things that were and arebeing achieved. Ideas range from supportingthe Richard Burton Diaries to the Research asArt competition which rapidly went from aninternal idea to a national phenomenon. Thesetwo examples, out of many, exemplify the BTGphilosophy: think it through, get it funded, makeit visible, share the excitement, and (as theshampoo instructions say) repeat.

The Research Council funding has now cometo an end, and the BTG story aligns now to thefuture. What have we learnt from our successesand failures to help ensure the Universitygrows its research? Weve learnt that workingtogether, building bridges between researchers often challenging traditional departmentalboundaries has a phenomenal effect. It allowsa small University to demonstrate it is agile andresponsive to the needs of society, despite theeconomic gloom. It shows in the simplest termsthat investing in the BTG vision not only helpsaddress the profound physical, economic andsocial challenges that lie ahead, but it alsocreates and afrms a powerful community ofeffective researchers.

Our challenge is to embed this successfulapproach across all aspects of our researchactivity. Anybody reading this wonderful

publication should think about how they can beinspired from the vast range of accomplishmentsrepresented here and, in particular, by the openprocesses that turned ideas into vibrant activitiesthat continue to expand our horizons in suchvaried and worthwhile ways.

Professor Harold Thimbleby CEng FIET FRCPEFLSW HonFRSA HonFRCPPrincipal Investigator for Bridging the Gaps

ANTICIPATING AFESTIVAL OF IDEAS


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Effecting a fundamental change in the researchculture of a university is no easy task. But that

was the ambition of Swansea UniversitysEPSRC-funded Bridging the Gaps Programme.The objective was simple: to break downdiscipline boundaries and to embed an inter-disciplinary consciousness across the researchcommunity. In this it has been remarkablysuccessful. The conversations it has started andthe interdisciplinary projects it has incentivisedand underpinned have made a real difference tothe way in which colleagues within the Universitythink about their research and their willingness todevelop and articulate new analytical and criticalperspectives, and to see the world and thechallenges it presents in radically different ways.Above all it has persuaded many colleagues thatto tackle the big and the interesting questions; tomeet the grand challenges that confront societyin the twenty-rst century; to have somethingimportant to say about these and to contribute

to their resolution, researchers must engage withcolleagues from other disciplines. And this willbe the lasting legacy of Bridging the Gaps inSwansea: a large and growing cohort of activeresearchers who because they have transcendeddisciplinary divides will never view the world andseek to understand it in quite the same way everagain.

Professor Noel ThompsonPro-Vice-Chancellor for Research

FOREWORD

EFFECTING AFUNDAMENTAL

CHANGE


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BRIDGING THE GAPS

Swansea University received the largest single grantof all the university programmes supported, and is the

only institution in Wales have received BTG funding

Rarely can the worlds major problems and challengesbe solved by any one approach or academicdiscipline. Multidisciplinary perspectives and expertisecan question conventional thinking, underpin academicrigour and lead to new and novel approaches borne atthe interface between traditional disciplines.

But how do you encourage researchers to bridge thegaps between disciplines and work together creatively?

In 2006 the Engineering and Physical SciencesResearch Council (EPSRC) launched a new initiativeas part of its Cross-Disciplinary Interfaces Programme(C-DIP), called Bridging the Gaps (BTG). During the nextfour years EPSRC invested 10.5 million supporting23 BTG programmes at universities throughout the UK,including 987,801 at Swansea University.

Swansea University received the largest single grant ofall the university programmes supported, and is the onlyinstitution in Wales to have received BTG funding.BTG set out to enable research organisations to build

a programme of new activities that would stimulatecreative thinking across academic disciplines (especiallybetween engineering and physical sciences (EPS)and non-EPS research areas), and reect institutionalstrengths and strategies.

Principal Objectives:

Initiate new, long-term collaborations betweenresearchers 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 betweendisciplines;

Enable the Research Organisation to encourage andembed multidisciplinary research betweendepartments and alleviate barriers to collaboration.(BTG Fourth Call for Proposals, 2010)

BRIDGING THE GAPSSwansea University BTG programmeSwanseas programme launched in September 2010and ran for three years. Our vision for Bridging the Gapswas ambitious. We set out to: Transform Swansea Universitys ethos towards cross-

disciplinary research and innovation, in a monitoredprogramme that empowers researchers and raisesexpectations;

Dismantle institutional and cultural barriers to cross-disciplinary work, to leave a legacy that bridges socialsciences, arts, humanities and engineering andphysical sciences gaps;

Generate balanced aspiration between diverse

groups of researchers, through project-specicsupported activities, contact time and mentoring; Emphasise research sustainability, both nancially

through stimulating further funding and, intellectuallythrough learning about, appreciating and challengingcontrasting disciplinary cultures;

Manage effectively and creatively many innovativeprojects to very high standards, delivering aproven model for sustainable institutional researchempowerment;

Leave a record of evaluation and monitoring, website,art and disciplinary research outputs and otheractivities that can be reused and will contribute tofuture learning and sustainability within and beyondthe University.

Through a comprehensive portfolio of opportunitieswhich included funding, workshops, support for grantwriting, seminars, lectures, sandpits, coaching, toolkits,

competitions, an artist in residence programme andlaunching a festival of research, Swanseas BTGprogramme encouraged, facilitated and supportedresearch collaborations which delivered many differenttypes of results.

This publication highlights the breadth of SwanseasBTG programme and celebrates its transformativeachievements.

Howard Ingham: BTG Artist in Residence


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BTG SUCCESS IN NUMBERS

103 grant applications for externalfunding 19,625,574

32 external grant applicationsfunded 2,184,411

BTG SUCCESS IN NUMBERS

338,979 spent supporting 73projects on campus

MORE THAN 3,000

For every 1 BTG hasspent funding projects,

the University has received 6.44 in grant capture.

196 NEW COLLABORATIONS INITIATED41 WITH NATIONAL PARTNERS &18 WITH INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS

NATIONAL ANDINTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES ATTENDED

205 APPLICATIONS FOR BTG FUNDING73 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

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THESHAPE OFTHINGS TO COMEHow do you go about creating and shaping a culture change? How do you encourageand support researchers to consider working with new people, disciplines, lexicons andmethodologies?

BTG created a diverse programme of activities, events and support and, together withresearchers who shared a passion for interdisciplinary working, set about demonstrating themany and varied ways collaboration could take place.

BTG Funding, Proposal WritingSkills and Peer Review PracticeBTG launched two funds: theBTG Bridging Fund, which madesmall, ad-hoc awards of up to500, and the BTG EscalatorFund, which had two structuredcalls a year and involved a simpleand comprehensive applicationprocedure and peer review process.

The Escalator Fund, in particular,became more and more popular as

time progressed. In total it received205 applications and 73 wereselected for support.

The Escalator Fund was structuredinto three levels to encourage peopleto return to it for additional fundingover time: Pilot (to create or pilotand idea); Escalate (to exploreor escalate a theory or project),and Impact (to provide funds for awell developed initiative to createimpact).

BTG offered support in craftingapplications and anyone whowanted it was offered feedbackabout their proposal, once thereview panel had made itsdecisions. In addition, researcherswere encouraged to rene andre-submit their proposals. An

integral aspect of the EscalatorFund was its approach to peerreview. As reviewing and evaluatinginterdisciplinary projects is difcult,BTG developed a structured peerreview system (and pro-forma toguide reviewers in what to look forand how to evaluate). This involvedeveryone who had submitted abid to the call (together with otherresearchers who expressed aninterest in developing their peerreview experience and skills). This

unique aspect to the BTG EscalatorFund gave many researchers notonly their rst opportunity for peerreview but also for peer reviewinginterdisciplinary projects. It provedimmensely successful.

BTG is an excellent scheme:Developing early careerresearchers ability to writeproposals, enabling them to beprincipal investigators and givingthem experience of peer reviewingproposals.

Dr Ian Mabbett, TechnologyTransfer Fellow, SPECIFIC

Grant Writing Support Some of BTGs support focussedupon providing and reinforcingan underpinning structure to the

Universitys interdisciplinary researchcommunity. Through the appointmentof a dedicated resource based inthe Planning and Strategic ProjectsUnit, BTG was able to providesupport for 20 complex, large-scaleinterdisciplinary grant applications.Support extended to writing businesscases, organising mock interviewpanels, attending brieng meetings,convening academics, and writingand editing cases for support. Intotal, the work supported by this

resource yielded 30 million ofgrant capture for the University.

BTG has also supported researchersto respond to other large orprestigious calls. In 2011 BTGfunded a two-day explorationand bid-writing retreat to enablea collaborative response to besubmitted to the Leverhulme Trustscall for Value. This model provedvery successful in supporting theearly development of the bid-writingprocess and is something which hasbeen repeated on varying scalesthroughout the duration of the BTGprogramme.

Preparing a Media ProleSupport for early career researcherswas an integral strand of the BTGprogramme and was initially

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME

achieved through the developmentof a Researchers Media Toolkit, aneasy to use repository of informationto help researchers think aboutand develop their online presenceas well as providing guidanceon how to interact with differentstrands of the media and how toprepare for an interview. Launchedin the autumn of 2012, the toolkitwas sent to every researcher in theUniversity, and has been enhancedthrough bespoke training, deliveredin collaboration with the Universitys

researcher and staff development

team and the Universitys publicrelations ofce.

Swansea University ResearchForum (SURF)SURF is a growing communityof more than 90 Fellows, drawnfrom across all Colleges anddisciplines in the University. Throughactive engagement with issuesaffecting the research community,SURF members are committed toenhancing the research environmentand to encouraging interdisciplinary

networking. BTG has worked closely

with SURF and has supporteda number of aspects of SURFsinnovative and active programme;including its bi-lingual seminar series,researchers coaching schemeand Research as Art competition.Without SURF there would not havebeen BTG, for many of those onits board and within its communitywere responsible for developingthe EPSRC Bridging the Gapsproposal and continue to takeforward aspects of the BTG/SURFcollaborations to perpetuate BTGs

legacy.


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SURF Researchers Coaching SchemeBTG supported other collaborative partnerships,such as the SURF Researchers CoachingScheme. During three years the scheme hasinvolved 95 researchers from across all theColleges within the University. Many whobegin the scheme being coached end up ascoaches, said Dr Amy Brown, the schemesorganiser. We have had involvement from allcareer stages: from junior researchers throughto professors. This includes both coaches andthose being coached. When matching pairs weensure that hierarchy is never considered; wehave had several lecturers coach professors.

The scheme has been invaluable in changingand shaping the culture of the researchcommunity. It gives people the time and spaceto concentrate on their research and think aboutwhere its going. It feels almost selsh andself-centred at rst, to sit and talk about yourselfbut its like therapy it helps you move forwardand certainly is worth its weight in gold. Havingsomeone constructively challenge you and beinvolved in your targets is also really effective!It reignites enthusiasm too, because someoneshows interest and spends time with you talkingabout your research, said Amy.

Welsh CrucibleEach year 30 of Wales most talented earlycareer researchers are given the opportunityto participate in Welsh Crucible, a pan-Walesleadership development programme. Funded bythe St Davids Day Group of Universities and the

Higher Education Funding Council for Wales(HEFCW), the programme will, in 2014, enterits fourth year. The Swansea element of theprogramme is led and coordinated by BTG.Central to this unique programme is the aimof driving and facilitating interdisciplinaryresearch between Welsh universities andraising innovative capabilities that tacklemajor challenges to society. At its core, theprogramme provides a unique collisionspace for researchers committed and opento interdisciplinary research and innovation, tointeract and make new connections with a viewto leading future research collaborations, saidProfessor Peter Halligan, Chair of the WelshCrucible Steering Group and Dean of StrategicFutures and Interdisciplinary Studies at CardiffUniversity.

Welsh Crucible was the winner of theOutstanding Contribution to LeadershipDevelopment category at the 2013 TimesHigher Awards. Andrea Buck, BTG ProgrammeManager and Swansea University WelshCrucible Champion said: Welsh Crucible is atransformative experience. As its name implies,it is a force for positive and lasting change.

The ever-developing programme challengesmisconceptions about undertaking collaborativeand interdisciplinary research, creates adynamic environment in which researchers areimmersed in and exposed to new experiences,perspectives and skills, all of which areenhanced through a series of creative and,sometimes, unusual activities and speakers.

Seventeen researchers from SwanseaUniversity have completed the Welsh Crucibleprogramme:

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, PamelaUgwudike, Clare Wood and Professors YogeshDwivedi and Niels Madsen.

Unexpected Collaborations: BTG Artists inResidenceArtists are stimulated and inspired by newand different environments, people, socialand economic contexts and their interaction

with and interpretation of these can bring newdimensions not only to their own work but alsoto the way researchers explore and undertakeinterdisciplinary activity.

Under the title Unexpected Collaborations,BTG launched Swansea Universitys rst Artistin Residence programme in 2011. Withmore than 30 applications received from abroad range of artistic disciplines two artistswere appointed, each with a 15,000grant: Howard David Ingham, a writer andperformance poet and Fern Thomas, aninterdisciplinary artist.

Fern and Howard spent several monthsworking with a variety of researchers andresearch groups including Dr Ian Masters ofthe Marine Energy Research Group, Professor

FERN CREATED THE INSTITUTE FORIMAGINED FUTURES & UNKNOWN

LANDS; A TIME-TRAVELLING RESEARCUNIT ESTABLISHED TO EXPLORE WHAT

IT IS LIKE TOLOOK AT THE WORLDFROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES,

INCLUDING THE FUTURE

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME

Fern Thomas: BTG Artist in Residence


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FESTIVAL OF RESEARCH

Heaven Crawley of the Centre for Migration PolicyResearch, the department of Computer Sciences FutureInteraction Technologies (FIT) Lab, the CyberterrorismProject and Dr Dan Foreman of the ConservationEcology Research Team (CERT).

Fern created the Institute for Imagined Futures &Unknown Lands; a time-travelling research unitestablished to explore what it is like to look at theworld from different perspectives, including thefuture. She encouraged researchers to consider andcontemplate the most signicant representations ofresearch necessary for the benet of the future.

Through workshops, drop-in sessions, structuredinterviews and attending lectures Fern and Howarddelivered a variety of activities and engagements.Fern, for instance, through working with theCyberterrorism Project collaborated on an entry forthe 2013 Research as Art Competition,Splashes andWaves, Ripples and Spills, a competition runner-up.She worked closely with Professor Vanessa Burholtin the Centre for Innovative Ageing and MariaCheshire-Allen on the Coming of Age exhibition,supported by BTG and staged at Swansea Universityduring the spring of 2013. Howard created a seriesof poems and reections upon his conversations andcollaborations and delivered several performances,includingScale and The Reason You Cant Be Happy .

The experience of being the BTG Artist in Residencehas been both challenging and rewarding, said Fern.To qualify an artistic outcome is not easy. Sometimesoutcomes are invisible and that prospect is excitingfor me. The core outcomes are found within theconversations between artist and researcher that wouldnot otherwise have been had and that now continue todevelop... I have made [some] signicant connectionswith researchers many of whom have a real resonancewith my practice and will act as a source of dialogueand resource for my work in the future. It has been aworthwhile residency forming new connections andinforming my practice on a new level.

For more information about Fern and Howard andtheir residency, please go to

www.imaginedfuturesunknownlands.org/blog www.landscapesproject.tumblr.com

These together with the Festival of Research andResearch as Art on the following pages are just afew examples of how BTG has endeavoured tostimulate the Swansea University research community,encourage it to consider new collaborations andopportunities and to support it through the process ofchange.

From the effects of climate changeto the needs and aspirations of anageing population, the complexfabric of life in the twenty-rstcentury faces many challenges andopportunities. Addressing themrequires research that crosses theboundaries between the scienticand technical, the political, culturaland social. In turn, this requiresfresh thinking and new modes ofconnection and communicationthat can be encouraged throughinterdisciplinary research.

In 2011 BTG launched SwanseaUniversitys rst Festival of Research,a stage from which to showcasethe breadth and excellence ofSwansea's research and utilisebest practice examples to stimulate

new ideas and collaborationsamongst the research community.

Through lectures, demonstrations,tours, discussions, exhibitionsand competitions, the festival hasengaged with more than 2,000people, many of them members ofthe local community keen to discoverthe expertise which exists on theirdoorstep.

The festival has attracted eminentspeakers, including Marc Evans,Hollywood lm director, Professor

John Harries, the former ChiefScientic Advisor for Wales, andProfessor Andrew Blake, LaboratoryDirector at Microsoft Research. Itstaged the premiere ofA GLIMPSEof Greenland: The DisappearingIce , a lm documentary followingthe eld research of a team ofSwansea University glaciologists

and included the launch ofSwanseas Research Institute for

Applied Social Science, which wasattended by Professor Paul Boyle,Chief Executive of the Economic andSocial Research Council (ESRC). Swansea University activelyencourages innovativecollaborative approaches tointerdisciplinary research. TheFestival of Research proudlyrecognises what has alreadybeen achieved, and allows usto demonstrate and continue tobuild momentum as one of theUKs more ambitious, research-leduniversities.

Professor Richard B Davies, Vice Chancellor

www.swansea.ac.uk/festival-of-

research/

celebrating research excellence at Swansea

A GLIMPSE of Greenland

FESTIVAL OFRESEARCH

FESTIVAL OF RESEARCHTHE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME


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Obama Lecture

FUTURE OF INTERDISCIPLINARY WORKING

FESTIVALFUTURE OF INTERDISCIPLINARY WORKING

FESTIVAL OF RESEARCH

Through lectures, demonstrations, tours, discussioexhibitions and competitions, the festival has engag

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


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RESEARCH AS ART

In 2009 Dr Richard Johnston,an active member of SwanseaUniversity Research Forum (SURF),launched an on-campus Researchas Art competition. Its mainaim was to facilitate a way forresearchers to communicate with thepublic and other researchers throughan image and a short piece ofaccessible text. I wanted to createan opportunity for researchers to telltheir story, said Richard. Why theydo research and what it means andfeels like to be a researcher.

Since then the competition has gonefrom strength to strength, attracting,accumulatively, more than 250entries and has been coveredby The Guardian, the BBC, FoxNews and NBC News. Severalresearchers have been interviewedabout their Research as Artsubmissions byScientic American,BBC Radio Wales,LiveScience ,Chemistry World , and for an EPSRCfeature. In addition an exhibition hasbeen developed which has beendisplayed in the Royal Institutionin London, one of the worlds mostprestigious science communicationand research organisations. Thecompetition has also engaged a

distinguished panel of judges, whichhas included:

Dr Gail Cardew Director ofScience and Education at theRoyal Institution, Vice-President ofEuroscience, Wellcome CollectionAdvisory Panel, EPSRC PeerReview College

Catherine Draycott Head ofWellcome Images, the WellcomeCollection

Flora Graham Digital Editor ofNewScientist.com, also workedfor BBC, CBC and CNET UK asa writer and broadcaster

Kathleen Soriano Director ofExhibitions, Royal Academy ofArts

Professor Noel Thompson Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research atSwansea University, Fellow of theRoyal Historical Society

Professor John Womersley Research Councils UK ExecutiveBoard, RCUK Champion forPublic Engagement with Researchand Chief Executive Ofcer of theScience and Technology FacilitiesCouncil (STFC)

I think its incredibly important thatresearchers convey their researchin an accessible way, saidRichard. The usual line is that theresearch is publically-funded andthe researchers have a responsibilityto communicate it but its muchmore than that. If youre interestedin your own research, you want totell the world. You want people tounderstand why you do it. And also,its important that the human side ofresearch is communicated. Not justthe research that will affect humans,but the humans that are doing theresearch. Were not super-scientistsand Nobel-prize winners, were justlike our friends at school who madedifferent choices or had differentopportunities. If we can tell thestory, we will, hopefully, be in touchwith a public that is engaged withresearch, that understands why wedo it, and a public that wants to beinvolved with research.

A selection of images and theirabstracts feature throughout thispublication.

[email protected] www.swansea.ac.uk/research/surf/art-competition/

EVERYPICTURE TELLA STORY...

The image is a 3D render of a ngerprint detected using a scanning Kelvin probe (SKP) from the surface of iron. Salleft behind from a ngerprint initiates corrosion reactions that produce very small voltages (mV) that the SKP detectThe height of each peak is a measure of the intensity of corrosion at that point. The advantage of this technique ovtraditional ngerprinting methods is that ngerprints can be detected on bullets and bomb fragments after they havebeen red whereas current ngerprint methods cannot. This has produced much interest from the home ofce, whohave 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 the3D renders produced by Dr J Sullivan.

JAMESSULLIVANCollege of Engineering3D representation of a

ngerprint detected on Ironusing SKP


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RESEARCH AS ART

MERIN BROUDIC AND TRACY DYSONMarine Energy Research Group, College of EngineeringOld Faithful Hydrophones, ow meters, pressure transducers all expensive, all delicate pieces of equipment, but without the oldbattered torpedo weight to put them where they need to be they are all far less effective. Data collection for marineturbines, turbulence analysis, speed and direction of currents, water temperature and salinity testing or the monitorinof underwater noise would be so much more difcult and the results far less accurate without Old Faithful. Goingback 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!


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yberterrorism represents theconvergence of two of the fourhighest priority risks to national

security identied by the UKs NationalSecurity Strategy: international terrorismand cybercrime. In June 2011 the UKGovernment, as part of its UK CyberSecurity Strategy launched the NationalCyber Security Programme accompaniedby 650 million of new investment. In2013 a new National Cyber Crime Unitwas established within the National CrimeAgency.

Our project emphasis, by bringing togethera range of presenters and participants fromaround the globe, was to examine andevaluate understandings of, and responsesto, cyberterrorism threat. There is growingconcern, not only about the possibilityof terrorists launching cyberattacks, butalso about the range of other activitiesterrorists perform online (including planning,

communication, recruitment, propaganda,training and fundraising). Possible responsesto these online activities need to beassessed in terms of their effectiveness andtheir social, political, ethical and legalimpacts. It is also necessary to assess howterrorists activities in the cyber realm arechanging the structures, organisation, aimsand methods of terrorist organisations, andexplore the implications of these ndingsfor the development of counterterrorismstrategies.

The projects emphasis upon interdisciplinarywork is important, since much of theresearch in this eld to date has beenfragmented along traditional disciplinaryboundaries (particularly between thesocial and physical sciences). Through ourwebsite, workshop, publications and 2013conference, which attracted speakers from

Israel, Sweden, Australia, Greece and theUnited States, we emphasise the need for amore dynamic exploration of the Internet/terrorism nexus (the predominant approachin existing research has been simply todocument terrorists online activities) andthe need for primary-source research (thereis a growing recognition among scholarsand practitioners that the counterterrorismliterature suffers from a lack of primary-source research). Through our nationaland international collaborations we havediscovered an enormous diversity of viewsaround cyberterrorism concerning notonly the signicance of the t hreat andappropriate responses, but also what theconcept itself encompasses.

The level of interest the project hasgenerated both in the UK and overseassurprised us. It has given rise to newopportunities, such as collaboration withthe University of Massachusetts for a series

of research internships in their Center forTerrorism & Security and an invitation topresent our work at NATOs Centre ofExcellence on Counterterrorism.

In addition to the support we had from BTGwe have also been successful in securingadditional funding from NATOs PublicDiplomacy Programme ( 4,500) andthe US Ofce of Naval Research Global($12,000). In spring 2014 we will publishtwo edited collections through Routledgeand Springer.

Co-Investigators:Dr Thom Chen, Dr Lee Jarvis

[email protected] www.cyberterrorism-project.org www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk- wales-22104451

CYBERTERRORISM: A MULTIDISCIPLINARYPERSPECTIVE

CASE STUDY

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: DR STUART MACDONALD,SCHOOL OF LAW AWARDED: 4,480, SEPTEMBER 2011

Through our nationaland international

collaborations we havediscovered an enormous

diversity of views around

cyberterrorism


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CASE STUDY

TRANSLATION ARRAYS VERSION, VARIATION,VISUALISATIONPHASE2PRINCIPAL 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 culturalboundaries over time.

For example, if we could have a full picture of not only when and where Shakespeares works have been and arebeing translated but also how they have been and are being translated in other words, how the workswere/are interpreted, re-used, exploited then we would have something like an encyclopaedicknowledge of all the worlds cultures in which Shakespeare is important: his work would be aprism for understanding differences between and within the worlds cultures.

The same approach applies equally to the Bible, the Quran, the works ofConfucius, Dante and so on. Such a completist ambition is probablyillusory. It would leave a huge remainder, (all the cultural works whichare not versions of others), which would be at least as signicantfor cross-cultural understanding. However, ultimately it is withinthis sort of idealistic framework that it is interesting todevelop new methodology and tools.

For example, 22 million school st udents in China every year, aged 14-15, read part ofThe Merchant ofVenice , where Christians put a Jew on trial and the Jew defends his common humanity. The students get toread it in Chinese. Which t ranslation do they read? There are dozens of translations in Chinese; hundreds ofthem all over the world: every translation subtly or crudely changes the way the play the conicts within theplay can be understood. Online, the students could compare versions in their own language; they could alsoexplore 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 i nteresting from several perspectives. Different translationsreect (a) source text ambiguity and variation, (b) changes in the translating language and culture, (c) varyingpurposes 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 orso German versions of ShakespearesOthello I have in my collection. The project had no precedent and itpromised 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 t herefore 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 meansthat what we want are maximally exible and user-customisable tools which exploit

the advantages of digital interfaces over paper codices (e.g. quasi-instant andquasi-complete search/retrieval, various modes of algorithmic analysis,

visualisation of abstracted patterns, machine translation, socialaffordances, etc.), and minimise the relative disadvantages

such as loss of context and restrictions of screen viewspace.

We collected and digitised the different German translations of Othello, which ranged in date from 1766 to2009, developed methods for statistically analysing the differences among them and devised prototype visualinterfaces. This was our Translation Array, which can be seen at the link below, as can the prototype map ofOthello translations.

Through this work we have the potential to shed new light on the world history of translating cultures, on thework of specic translators, on the source texts, and on language itself.

Co investigator: Dr Bob Laramee

[email protected] www.delightedbeauty.orgothellomap.nand.io/



16/39


RESEARCH AS ART

LEIFA JENNINGS

College of MedicineCobalt, Celeste, Cyan and Me This photo shows a rail ofblue theatre scrubs, readyto be worn. It is a visualrepresentation of how it feels to

be a medical student enteringthe operating theatre for therst time. Everyone else hasa role to play and a place tobe, but as a student you standthere, bright red Studentlanyard around your neck,feeling like you denitely dontt in. My research project ontheatre etiquette aims to createa piece of work to informnew students of the unwrittenrules of the operating theatre,hopefully allowing them to feelmore condent the rst timethey enter the operating theatreenvironment.


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NOTED & QUOTEDNOTED & QUOTED

A GLIMPSE of Greenland BBC Radio Wales Roy Noble programme featureda 30-minute interview with Glaciology ProfessorTavi Murray and Laurence Dyke, about the researchthey are conducting through the GLIMPSE project.They spoke about their documentary lm, which waspremiered in Interdisciplinary Research Week.BBC Radio Wales, 23 November 2011

Diabetes MonitoringI am working on the development of a highly-sensitiveand selective biosensor for the continuous monitoringof blood glucose using metal-oxide nanowires, saidDr Vincent (Kar Seng) Teng, (Engineering). Due tothe relatively large surface area of nanomaterials...,the use of nanowires provides excellent sensitivity andresponse towards small changes in the blood glucoselevel.

The project, in collaboration with Welsh companies,is developing a non-invasive, continuous monitoringtechnology that allows diabetic patients to take controlof their long-term illnesses.BBC Wales Today, 23 November 2011

The Meaning and Threat ofCyberterrorismDr Lee Jarvis, co-leader of the Swansea CyberterrorismProject (Politics and International Relations) and visitingspeaker Dr Timothy Legrand of Grifth University,Queensland, spoke about Cyberterrorism and thetwo-day, international workshop which took place atSwansea University.BBC Radio Wales , 14 September 2012

Scientists to Research First-everEgyptian Devils EncyclopaediaFollowing BTG funding for a pilot study, Dr KasiaSzpakowska (History and Classics) secured158,000 from the Leverhulme Trust to establishthe worlds rst encyclopaedia of ancient Egyptiandemons. While gods such as Osiris or Isis arefamiliar, the darker side of religion and ominousentities such as Sehaqeq, Fiery-Breath, or Consumer ofHearts, have remained in the shadows. New digitaltechnology will allow our team to explore their worldand make it accessible.Wales on Sunday, 28 October 2012

Learning LanguagesIndividual learner differences play a huge part inhow different people learn a language successfully,said Dr Tess Fitzpatrick (Languages Research Centre).In the past language learning was about tables ofverbs and grammatical structures, and rote learning ofmutations for Welsh, and so on, she said.

In more recent years we have realised that thisapproach doesnt suit all learners and it is certainly notnecessarily conducive to real world conversation andcommunication.

That is why things like exchange trips wherelearners are immersed in the language tend to beso successful.Western Mail, 2 March 2012

Henrys Elite IdentiedNick Owen, (Sport Science), spoke to Der Spiegelabout advances in the projects ndings. The constantuse of heavy longbows had left their marks on theskeletons of soldiers. You can see the strain on theshoulders and on the lower spine, says biochemistNick Owen of the Swansea University. The soldierswere all very large: In order to shoot the longbow, itrequires a lot of strength. Historical records tell us thatmany of the men came from Wales. Previous studieshave already shown that they mainly lived on saltmeat and crisp bread.Der Spiegel, 11 December 2012

Coming of AgePatients from Singleton and Gorseinon Hospitals havebeen busy capturing their memories on a memorycard which will form part of the Coming of Age trail,partially funded by BTG, linking Singleton Hospitalwith Swansea University.

Arts in health coordinator for Abertawe BroMorgannwg Health Board, and project co-investogator, Prue Thimbleby, said: The older patientsreally enjoyed looking through the photographs, and itwasnt long before something triggered a memory.

Many wonderful stories, and a few tears, were sharedduring the course of the workshops, she said.South Wales Evening Post , 13 May 2013

Welsh Archers on Board theMary Rose?Scientists have begun work on extracting DNA fromthe bones of the human skeletons found on board theMary Rose warship with a view to identifying themen and perhaps even tracing their living relatives.Nick Owen (Sport Science), a sports biomechanicsexpert at Swansea University who has been leadingthe team examining the human remains. Ultimatelywe would like to nd some living relatives, although

there are no records of those who were on board so itwill be like searching for one blade of grass in a eld.It would be marvellous if we could narrow it down tofamilies and it is known that archers for example camefrom certain parts of the country like Wales, so thatgives us a bit of a pointer.The Telegraph,30 May 2013

Stunning ScienceA Kinder chocolate challenge, the gravestonesof failed solar cells, insect poo and medievaldisgurement were among the images celebratedin the 2013 Research as Art competition, whichshowcases striking images that tell stories of scienticresearch. The competition is organised by Dr Richard

Johnston (Engineering), of Swansea University

Research Forum and supported by the Bridging theGaps programme.The Guardian , 27 June 2013

Rediscovering the Story of SteelRecently analysed archives show the rst chief of theAbbey steelworks in Port Talbot, Fred Cartwright,brought information back from the US in 1951 to helpBritish steel.

Dr Louise Miskell (History and Classics), said: Keygures in the steel industry have, until now, beenconspicuous by their absence from the industrialhistory of twentieth Centur y Wales. We need toknow much more about how people like Cartwrightoperated.

We also need to know more about the wider impactof the steel industr y on communities like Port Talbot.Along with the loan of the records from our partners atTata, its another vital step in helping us to understandthe story of steel, in Wales and across the UK.

South Wales Evening Post,13 September 2013

NOTED & QUOTED

BTG-FUNDED RESEARCHERS AND EXPERTISEHASHIT THE HEADLINES THROUGHOUTTHE DURATION OF THE PROGRAMME. HEREIS A SELECTION...

NOTED

QUOTED

MANY WONDERFUL STORIES, AND A FEW TEARSWERE SHARED DURING THE COURSE OF THEWORKSHOPS


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WORKING BETWEEN THE BOUNDARIES

MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Multidisciplinary is certainly oneof the buzzwords of current STEMresearch. Government fundingagencies, universities, researchdirectors and scientic journals allpromote the ethos of collaborativeinnovation and investigation acrosstraditional subject boundaries. Infact, such is the clamour for multi-skilled, translational science thatone could be forgiven for thinkingthat cross-discipline networksare a guarantee of success! Ofcourse the reality is that workingin multidisciplinary research isdifcult and extremely challengingand quite as likely to lead to themediocrity of being a jack of alltrades and master of none, as itis to creating frontier science of aground breaking nature. However,just because something is difcult isnot a reason for not taking up thechallenge and I rmly believe thatthe potential reward from workingat the boundaries of science-engineering-medicine is so great,both for personal and professionaldevelopment, that anyone whois presented with an opportunityfor multidisciplinary research, andnds it attractive, should immersethemselves in the challenge.

The rst thing to be aware ofwhen leaving the safe groundof a well-established academicdiscipline is that there are a numberof unavoidable difculties to befaced. First and foremost it means

talking to strangers in a foreign

scientic language and of courseall disciplines have their favouriteareas, kept safe from intruders,by impenetrable jargon. Thus forinstance, medical researchersinterested in nanotechnology maycome across the eigenvalues ofthe quantum mechanical wavefunction whilst the nanotechnologisthas to get their head around suchtechniques as organelle partitioning,phosphopeptide enrichment andimmunopurication. Adaptingto other scientic languages andcultures can be particularly difcultin the UK, where the divide betweenthe life and physical sciences startswell before university. Even whendisparate groups of researchershave successfully forged a teamthey may still face difculties ingetting their work accepted by grantreviewers and journal referees. Inmultidisciplinary work the excellenceoften comes through the combinationrather than the discrete componentsof the team and if this synergyis overlooked then the researchbecomes just the sum of its parts,which in todays competitive world isnot good enough.

Despite the hurdles, I believemultidisciplinary research isinvigorating, exciting and, ultimately,is the way that science andtechnology will progress throughthe twenty-rst century. Perhapsmost importantly in an institutionsuch as Swansea University, it

provides opportunities for world-class

research through the developmentof bespoke expertise in niche areas.In the globally competitive researcharena we can create internationallyrecognised clusters in nanomedicine,manufacturing, water quality andsafety, digital humanities and ageing the prestige and impact of whichfar exceeds what may be expectedof a relatively small university in thewest of Wales.

At a personal level, this aspect ofcollaborative research is even moreprofound. Any talented researcherwho is adventurous enough to moveto new disciplines can create aunique contribution to science whichis determined by their energy andenthusiasm rather than the prestigeof an institution or the scale of itsresearch budget.

Professor Huw SummersHead of the MultidisciplinaryNanotechnology Centre, College ofEngineering

MULTIDISCIPLINARYSCIENCE &TECHNOLOGY WORKING AT THE BOUNDARIES WITHOUT FALLING THROUGH THE CRACKS

RESEARCH AS ART

CHRISTINE DOWCollege 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 millionsof cubic meters of water to the ice base in a matter of hours. Such an inux of lubricating water hassignicant impacts on the ice dynamics and, as a result, research groups closely monitor the evolutionof the lakes and related drainage throughout the melt season. With a warming climate, lakes willlikely form at higher elevations due to increased melting on the ice surface. If this water reaches theice bed then it could signicantly impact the rate of ice ow in the region.


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COLLEGE COLLABORATIONS

BTG GRANTS AWARDED BY COLLEGE(TOTAL GRANTS AWARDED: TOTAL VALUE)

College of Arts &Humanities

10: 17,026

Collegeof Business,

Economics & Law

3: 12,0371

College ofEngineering

24: 124,163

College ofHuman & Health

Sciences

8: 45,319

College ofMedicine

9: 35,200

College ofScience

19: 104,898

At the core of BTGs achievements are thecollaborations that have been initiated acrossdisciplines and Colleges. Encouraging academics toovercome differences in methodologies, language,and operating timescales and bringing togetherresearchers from different career stages is not alwayseasy but it can be immensely rewarding.

BTG funded projects have seen glaciologist Dr AdamBooth work with Egyptologist Dr Kasia Szpakowskato investigate unexplored pyramids in Egypt. Dr Boothalso worked with Professor Maurice Whitehead, anhistorian and his team, to explore the architecturalmysteries of Raglan Hall. Dr Szpakowska went on towork with an artist t o create replica clay cobras anda materials engineer, Dr Richard Johnston, to lookat their breakage patterns and properties. Weveseen language specialists seek out the expertise ofcomputer scientists; psychologist Dr Michelle Lee workwith economists to model choice behaviour, and acomputational and uids engineer, Dr Raoul van Loon,work with medics to explore how engineering can helpus understand our bodies and, in particular, lymphaticphysiology. Bringing together these new and novel collaborationshas not only enhanced individuals research butalso the collegiate nature of the Universitys research

community. Dr Kasia Szpakowska said: Working withan 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 signicantstep towards applying a methodology grounded in

applied linguistics theory, to a context more usually thedomain of clinical psychology. The potential benetsto research in both elds and, most importantly, to theend user, are considerable. Or as Nick Owen (Sportand Exercise Science), succinctly puts it: The more

you do it [collaborative research] the more you realisehow much is to be gained.

The illustration shows how many projects weresupported within each College as well as how thoseprojects crossed and involved other academics indifferent Colleges. If there is a consistent to arise fromBTG and be articulated throughout this publication,it is that while it may be difcult to overcome someof barriers (real or perceived) that prevent academicsworking across disciplines methodologies,departmental or College divisions, for example persevering to overcome those barriers leads to fargreater opportunities, impact and enrichment ofthe research community, whether it be based uponcampus, nationally or internationally.

Arts & HumanitiesBusiness, Economics & LawEngineeringHuman & Health SciencesMedicineScienceNationalInternational






20220850

12200001

4420612232813

21331410

00313310

32831864

College of Arts &Humanities

College of Business,Economics & Law

College ofEngineering

College of Human &Health Sciences

College of Medicine

College of Science

19

6

110

15

11

35

COLLEGE COLLABORATIONS

PI COLLEGECOLLEGE COLLABORATORSFREQUENCY OF COLLEGE COLLABORATORTOTAL COLLABORATIONS


20/39


21/39


LEADING A PROJECT FOR THE FIRST TIME

Whats it like to lead a researchproject for the rst time? We askedthree early career researchers to giveus their insight.

Dr Dan Johnson, College ofEngineering (DJ)Project Title: Investigation into theInternal Fine Structure of Ensis SiliquaShells

Awarded: 2,672, September 2012

Dr Pay Fen (Connie) Eng, College ofEngineering (PFE)Project Title: Microneedle, Pain FreeTechnology for Drug Delivery

Applications Awarded: 7,330, September 2012

Dr Gabriela Jiga-Boy, College ofScience (GJB)Project Title: The Allure of Good

Plans: How Mobile Phone-BasedFeedback Can Boost the PositiveEffect of Concrete Plans on HealthBehaviour Change

Awarded: 3,350, March 2011

What has been the most excitingaspect of leading your rst project?

DJ: Putting the proposal together.Trying to phrase the initial ideas ina way which would be interesting,attractive to potential collaboratorsand also would full the criteria underwhich the proposals were to bejudged was quite challenging. Equallyexciting was liaising with the projectpartners to discuss results and potentialways forward with the technicalaspects of the project.

PFE: Working together with strongpartners to continue to developMicroneedle technology for realapplications, with the prospect ofproducing commercial products.

GJB:The freedom to build links witha domain I wrongly thought wassegregated from psychology (computerscience). I realised that curiositytowards what other researchers aredoing can bring you lots of creativemoments you didnt expect.

What have you learnt about yourselfand managing others as youdelivered your project?

DJ: I have improved my skills forwriting proposals. I have also learnthow to be realistic without limiting the

LEADING A PROJECT FOR THE FIRST TIME

long term view of possible directionsthe research could go in.

PFE:There are a number of things:I understand more about projectbudgeting and monitoring; Ivedeveloped my communicationskills to maintain the relationshipwith collaborative partners andIve learned to work with industry,especially the steps needed tocommercialise technology.

GJB:That it is crucial to communicatewith other researchers andcollaborators. And that a lot ofideas can be lost if we dont build afriendly environment in which we canfreely speak out and try any researchidea.

Delivering an interdisciplinaryresearch project is a complexprocess. What has been yourrecipe for making things work?

DJ:Recognising that things willnot always go to plan, and thatany unforeseen obstacles presentopportunities for new ideas.

PFE:The recipe for making thingswork is a combination of passion andpatience for the project.

GJB: Curiosity should be a constantin any such relationship curiosity tolet others talk and propose ideas curiosity to try them. The rest shouldbe a exible process, in which youconstantly adapt what you do andhow you do it.

How has leading a project changedthe way you approach researchand leading research in the future?

DJ: It has allowed me to betterappreciate how the different strandsin a multidisciplinary project interactand intertwine.

PFE: Understand the patients orsocietys needs before pursuingresearch topics what will the impactbe?

GJB: It increased my condence andgave me the precedent to take moreinitiatives and to say yes to moreinvitations to work on collaborativeinitiatives (e.g., apply and take partin the Welsh Crucible 2013).

Gabriela, Dan, Connie


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23/39


CASE STUDY

Human blood is a vital substancewhich keeps body cells alive.Upon injury, to ensure that thisprecious uid is retained within thebody, a complex cascade of eventsoccurs which is triggered to quicklyform a blood clot at the site of injury,in order to prevent further blood loss.

If an individual has an impairedcapacity to clot their blood (e.g.haemophilia) they are under life-longthreat of severe haemorrhage. Thispotential for rapid, fatal bloodloss is also evident for patientsexperiencing serious injury of anemergency nature e.g. stab wounds,traumatic accidents or battleeldinjuries.

The emergency care of life-threatening blood loss hasnot improved much over thecenturies and although a few newhaemostatic (blood clotting) agentsare currently being developed andtrialled, most of these are riddledwith problems and serious sideeffects such as burning of skin andtissue, corneal damage, and thetriggering of heart attacks andstrokes. These new agents are alsoextremely costly and there is thusa concerted drive, particularly bythe Ministry of Defence, to pursueand invest in research which mayultimately deliver a new, safehaemostatic agent.

During our recent investigations oninvertebrate immune systems andthe production of antimicrobialmolecules by marine species, it was

noted that haemolymph (blood)from several of these species (in

particular crabs and lobsters),displayed a remarkable ability tovery quickly coagulate; Crabs andlobsters frequently cast-off limbsas a defence response to beingcaught by predators. For the injuredanimal, this rapid clot formation is amechanism to prevent further loss ofits own haemolymph, thereby alsosealing the wound against potentialpathogens.

In humans, brinogen is an extremelyimportant precursor to the insolubleprotein brin, which must be formedin order for blood to clot. Whilethe clotting pathways of humansand invertebrates have evolvedindependently, studies have shown

the presence of brinogen-likesequences in the genes of someinvertebrate echinoderms, such asstarsh. This suggests the possibilitythat there may be crossover in theblood clotting pathways of humansand some invertebrates.

We therefore became interested tofurther investigate the formation andnature of these invertebrate clots,and the potential of any interactionbetween invertebrate clotting factorswith the human blood clottingcascade.

Our initial study investigated thepresence of haemostatic factorsin the haemolymph of a panel ofinvertebrates. These experimentsrevealed that blood from an insect,the cockroach, appeared to havesome interaction with the humanblood clotting system. In our assays,cockroach haemolymph dramaticallysped up clotting of human plasma

from 39.1 to 12.3 seconds.To continue investigations into thepotential of cockroach haemolymph,we approached BTG for a follow-ongrant, to enable us to attempt anisolation of the clotting factor/s, andto gather additional information onthe size, nature and stability of thehuman clot that may be formed inthe presence of cockroach factors.Our collaboration with ProfessorRhodri Williamss research groupenabled us to undertake suchdetailed investigations and also tocapture and analyse quantitative andqualitative rheological informationabout clot formation within eachinvertebrate.

As a result of our BTG f undedwork, we hope to be in a positionto clearly identify whether thereis genuinely a haemostatic factorpresent within the cockroach thatmay have potential to act as ahaemostatic agent for human blood.We hope this nding may lead toIP protection and further externalapplications for research grants fromlarger funding bodies.

In addition, the results we haveobtained will be published to presentthe rheometric proles and micro-droplet analysis of the whole panelof invertebrate haemolymph worka unique analysis which has neverbeen published before.

Co-Investigators:Professor Andy Rowley, ProfessorRhodri Williams, Dr Claire Vogan

[email protected]

CLOTS FROM CRABS:CAN FACTORS FROMINVERTEBRATES ACT AS CLOTTING

AGENTS FOR HUMAN BLOOD?PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR:DR YAMNI NIGAM,COLLEGE OF HUMAN AND HEALTH SCIENCESAWARDED: 8,108, SEPTEMBER 2011AND 14,998, SEPTEMBER 2012

THESE EXPERIMENTS REVEALED THAT FROM AN INSECT, THE COCKROACH, APPEAR

TO HAVE SOME INTERACTION WITH THHUMAN BLOOD CLOTTING SYSTE


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On July 19, 1545, 400 men diedwhen the warship Mary Rose sank inthe Solent. In 1971 the wreck wasrediscovered but it wasnt until 1982that she was salvaged in one of the

most complex and expensive projects inmaritime archaeology.

Amongst the salvage and artefacts weremany human remains. Within thesewere 92 almost complete skeletons,which, because of their location and theobjects found with them (3,500 arrows,137 longbows and some prestigiousitems) led us to question whether thesewere an elite group of archers.

While some skeletons were foundin isolation, some were co-mingledand, even though they were expertlymatched, there still remained someuncertainty as to the delity of therecombination of individual skeletons.Our study sought to infer certainoccupational activity (archery) withdifferences found between the samebone from different sides of anindividuals skeleton, for instance pairsof radii bones.

Clearly, if we were studying pairsof bones not originating from thesame individual our study would becompletely compromised. Therefore,we sought assistance from a geneticist,Swanseas Dr Sarah Forbes-Robertson,to match our bones. Extraction andanalysis of ancient DNA is notstraight forward and prior to anygrant application it quickly becameapparent that proof of concept wasnecessary. We therefore needed atenacious, experienced and motivatedgeneticist prepared to develop a newtechnique, specic to the conditionsthat the Mary Rose bones had beenexposed to over the centuries. Inaddition, we also needed the skillsof an orthopaedic surgeon to collectgood, clean samples while causingminimal damage to what is probablyone of the most important collections ofhistoric skeletal remains in the world. MrUjjal Choudhuri from Bro MorganwgAbertawe NHS Trust provided his skillsfor this task.

The outcome of the research wassuccessful extraction of ancient DNAwhich, after coverage on BBC Radio4sToday programme, led directlyto international collaboration with Dr

Chris Phillips, from the Forensic ScienceInstitute at the Universidade Santiago deCompastela, one of the worlds leadingforensic genetics research groups.

As a result of thi s success we wereasked to accompany the Mary RoseTrust to the Big Bang Festival of Science2013 in London, which was attendedby more than 65,000 people. It washere we met Professor Sir WalterBodmer from Oxford University, pre-eminent geneticist and author of ThePublic Understanding of Science (or,The Bodmer Report) a watershed forscience policy in the UK.

We have met with Sir Walter and hisPeople of the British Isles research teamand he has agreed to collaborate withus to investigate the geographical originof the Mary Rose skeletons.

In addition, the successful extraction ofancient, nuclear DNA will lead to theability to compare diseases in a clearlydened population from almost 500

years ago with modern populations.Further, the extraction will lead tocondence in the matching of pairedbones from the original study, which, inturn, will lead to a better understandingof resistance training effects on apaediatric population (medieval archersstarted training at a very early age, 7 or8 years old).

This is in addition to the human storywhich can be told of the archers fromHenry VIIIs ship and the huge publicengagement opportunities that brings.

Co-investigators:Dr Sarah Forbes-Robertson,Mr Ujjal Choudhuri

[email protected] www.maryrose.org www.peopleofthebritishisles.org

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR:MR NICK OWEN, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERINGAWARDED: 6,780, MARCH 2012

ANALYSIS OF THE ATTRIBUTES OF ARCHERS USING HUMAN REMAINSFROM THE MARY ROSE WARSHIP

CASE STUDY


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TALKING HEADS

How would you describeinterdisciplinary research?SW: For me, its a cross-over betweendissimilar research areas or the translationof a methodology or application from onediscipline to another that results in a step-change in development.

JB: Yes, its working between boundariesthat enables researchers to identifynew areas of research and to produceinnovative solutions that individualdisciplines may be unable to deliversatisfactorily.RVL: Id add that interdisciplinaryresearch broadens your mind, triggersnew ideas, but also takes you outside

your comfort zone. Since interdisciplinaryresearchers have expertise in distinctresearch areas, it requires a signicantamount of trust and communicationbetween them to work efciently.

JP: I see interdisciplinary researchas the combination of two or moredisciplines working together to explorea common research issue and gain anunderstanding of complex problems. Itis research connecting and integratingdata, methods, theories, and tools; eachdiscipline working with reference to the

other and not on separate aspects of theresearch.

I also think there is often confusionwith multidisciplinary work, which is amixture of disciplines working mainly inisolation or on different work packagesthat may not have synergy with otherwork packages. The aim is to developinto trans-disciplinary research, wherenew theories, methods and dataare generated that are valuable andapplicable within many disciplines. Many people refer to interdisciplinaryresearch as something other thannormal research. How do you respondto that perspective?RVL: I dont really like the term normalin any context. I appreciate thatinterdisciplinary research is a distinct typeof research and if you learn anything frominterdisciplinary collaborations it is that thenorm is very different between disciplines.For example, research that is considerednormal in engineering varies tremendouslyfrom what is normal in medicine.SW: Its not really other, but it is adifferent approach to research that

encourages you to see opportunitiesoutside your own area. You could say itsalmost an entrepreneurial approach toresearch.

JB: I feel that interdisciplinary research isthe norm here at Swansea, and we havebeneted signicantly from this in termsof grant capture, attracting world-classresearchers and delivering impactfulresearch. The acceleration of benets isundoubtedly a result of the EPSRC BTGprogramme, but our priority now is toembed interdisciplinary working in areasthat are yet to engage and maximise itsbenet, and to support researchers whoare working between disciplines.

JP: The norm and the steer we get from research funders is for moreinterdisciplinary research so I wouldconsider this to be increasingly the norm,but dont forget that there is still valuein some areas of single disciplinaryresearch!

How do you see interdisciplinaryresearch changing the UKs researchculture and its position globally?

JP: The UK has a major role to play incombating many of the worlds problems,

and the pace of change is increasing incertain areas. For example, in relationto ageing research, the New Dynamicsof Ageing and the Life Long Healthand Wellbeing programmes are bothsupported by all research councils, areinterdisciplinary, and have been viewedas agships in Europe. The increasingcollaboration with international funderse.g. with the National Institute of Ageingin the USA and through Joint ProgrammeInitiatives in Europe has consequently alsobeen strengthened.SW: There are huge opportunities ininterdisciplinary research. Often it canbe as simple as the translation of anapplication from one eld to another thatwould make a huge difference to thelatter eld. It also offers opportunities fornew ways to approach problems that arenon-standard in a particular discipline thatcan completely change the way in whichthat discipline develops. Interdisciplinaryresearch is here to stay and fundersworld-wide see this as a ripe area fordevelopment and funding.RVL: Interdisciplinary research has onlyrecently seen a large growth and it seemsthat it will continue to do so. It reveals

HEADSTALKING What is interdisciplinary research, and what does it mean for institutions?We asked four staff who were involved in BTG at Swansea to share t heir thoughts:Professor Steve Wilks (SW) isHead 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 ProgrammeManager for Research, andProfessor 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


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new avenues and its growth will beessential for the UK to stay on topas a country practicing high levelresearch; I wouldnt expect it toreplace more conventional scienticresearch, but rather have a placealongside it.

JB: Interdisciplinary research enablesinternational collaborations. Myexperience of visiting collaboratorsin China, Europe and the USA isthat other countries are adoptinga similar approach to the UK. Ouruniversities and researchers mustembrace this approach to maximiseour position and catapult the UKinto the next phase of globalisingresearch.

How can universities, which havespent time and monies investingin systems and infrastructure,adapt to accommodate practicesand processes that underpininterdisciplinary research?SW: I believe modern universitiesneed to foster a culture ofcollaboration, not ownership.The rewards in any project mustfollow the effort that is put in if it isto form the basis of a sustainablepartnership. Professional serviceswithin universities also need toadopt more collaborative andinterdisciplinary approaches tosupport these activities, which in turnwill add value to their own areas.

JB: There are lots of initiatives andprocesses that could be implementedto advance interdisciplinaryresearch, such as recognition andreward for interdisciplinary workingthrough Professional DevelopmentReviews, and transparent accounting

systems for Principal Investigators tomonitor interdisciplinary projects.I think central university activitysuch as funding opportunitiesto support seed corn projectsbetween disciplines is essential,as are training opportunities forcollaborative and interdisciplinaryworking, postgraduate scholarshipsand bursaries for interdisciplinaryPhD students, and support forcross-College institutes and researchcentres.RVL:Regulations and expectationscan be very different amongstdisciplines, which can put additionalpressure on any collaboration andoften requires some compromise.Even if the researchers involved arewilling to make these compromises,existing conventions and perceptionsin departments are hard to break.Hence, the value of interdisciplinarycollaborations should beappreciated and departments

should have systems in place toaccommodate for them. Somededicated central unit that gathersinformation on interdisciplinaryresearch and can help researchersbreak down any existing barrierswould be really benecial topromote this type of research.

JP: I feel that successfulcollaborations depend on getting thenancial processes and mechanismsright, whether this is pump-primingmoney across different Collegesor allocation of funds on successfulgrants. Transferring funding downto individuals and centres is anessential incentive. Dedicated socialspace (with coffee!) to encourageinformal conversations between staffacross disciplines is essential.If you were able to travel forwards10 years and look back to today,

what do you think people wouldbe saying about the changes thesector has made to better facilitateinterdisciplinary working?

JP: I hope we would see that therehas been considerable evaluationof interdisciplinary research andmany more interdisciplinary researchposts in universities. I think the culturewill have changed so researcherscan more readily gain promotionin relation to interdisciplinarywork, and that journals andresearch funders are better ableto accommodate interdisciplinaryapproaches in peer reviewing.I think Research Councils will bedemanding more interdisciplinaryresearch in the same sort of wayas is happening in Horizon 2020,where the mainstreaming of social

sciences and humanities requires allchallenges to address these areas,whatever the origins of the calls.SW: I think wed be talking aboutmore exible support mechanismsto fund and enable interdisciplinaryresearch, innovative building designand space usage to facilitate suchactivities, and new undergraduateschemes that develop skills acrossdisciplines which equip the newwork-force.

JB: Well recognise howinterdisciplinary working hasled to signicant breakthroughsin healthcare, transportation,environmental impacts and culturaldiversity; how the cross fertilisationof ideas and collaborative workinghave created new processes,improved products, better informedpublic policy and broadened thethinking of others to realise thispotential.

RVL: Weve already made bigstrides to promote interdisciplinaryresearch, with initiatives likeSwanseas Institute of Life Science,where engineering, physics,biology, and medical researchcome together. I am convinced thatthese initiatives will be ongoing andthat there will be a strong push tostimulate the area further.

The Bridging the Gaps programmehas been a great enabler. One ofits most successful activities hasbeen early adopter/seed cornfunding for new ideas. Whats

your view of this type of activityand its value?SW: Supporting burgeoning areasis a great use of BTG fundingas it often provides early careerresearchers with the opportunity toexplore new future areas.RVL: The seedcorn funding has beenvery useful to encourage researchersto engage in new interdisciplinarycollaborations. At the same time ithas created awareness amongstresearchers about this different kindof research. The availability of somesmall funds has driven researchersto step outside their own eld andI feel that thats the highest value.If more researchers embark oninterdisciplinary research and startappreciating the challenges, this willgrow the eld, which will produce acritical mass that is required for thearea to make an impact.

JB: Interdisciplinary working,especially for early careerresearchers, can easily failwithout having a focus. Seed cornfunding provides this focus and

enables early career researchersto establish a track record forinterdisciplinary working. Seedcorn funding has been provento work at Swansea University. Ithas enabled the development ofideas into projects that are morelikely to succeed; researchersin receipt of BTG funding haveapplied for external grants, writtencollaborative published outputs, builtup collaborative networks acrosscampus, within the UK and globallyand have broadened perspectiveswithin their own discipline.

JP: Yes, this is a good way ahead.We need to build on strengthsin the University those alreadyestablished and where newinterdisciplinary work can take thesestrengths to another level. In additionwe need to be alert to innovativeand quirky ideas that emerge froman interdisciplinary perspective.

TALKING HEADS

I WOULDNT EXPECTIT TO REPLACE MORE

CONVENTIONALSCIENTIFIC RESEARCH,

BUT RATHER HAVE A

PLACE ALONGSIDE IT


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RESEARCH AS ART

TAVI MURRAYCollege of ScienceBroken Reections Its hard to describe the beauty and inspiration of the places in which we work. I am a scientist rather than anartist or photographer but a landscape like this talks directly to my soul. Even so, a static picture does not dojustice to the moving, dancing, changing lightscapes of an Arctic dawn. Here, the almost perfect reection ofthe mountains and sky are broken by the icebergs melting in this Greenland fjord. The icebergs introduce cooland fresh water and drive the deep circulation delivering deep warm waters to the glacier front, accelerating theglaciers ow and increasing sea-level rise. These are the true colours of the Arctic.


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universities specialising in NanoHealth and medicaltechnologies, helping to establish Swansea as aglobal hub for joint ventures.

With a 50,000 contribution of matched funding,BTG invested its resource to enable exchanges andvisits to China, France, and the United States ofAmerica, as well as supporting a three day symposiumas part of the Universitys Festival of Research, inFebruary 2012.

The BGER network benets from exceptionalfacilities and expertise across the partnerinstitutions; it is in the effective exploitation of theseresources that we can expect to nd the solutions tosocietys most pressing health issues.

Professor Steve Wilks, Head of the Collegeof Science, Principal Investigator, BGER

The BGER symposium was a highlight of the project.Swansea welcomed more than 40 academics andprofessionals from 19 partner institutions. With aparticular focus upon early career researchers therewas an opportunity to present and discuss posters aswell as deliver a headline presentation to colleaguesand collaborators.

My research opportunities have been widened through BGER. Collaborations that werenot conceivable a year ago, have now cometo fruition.

Dr Bella Manshian, Swansea University

As part of BTGs legacy, Swansea University willcontinue to support international collaborationsamongst the key partners of the BGER network,continuing to invest in a global platform forinternational thinkers. In particular, work continues withthe Universit Joseph Fourier in Grenoble, France,Texas A&M University and The Methodist HospitalResearch Institute, Houston, USA.

The Bridging the Gaps programme has successfullybrought together internationally based researchersto reect upon the global challenges facing society.By encouraging and facilitating opportunities toshare and discuss perspectives and ideas and byworking together, across disciplines, researchers who

have participated in BTG and BGER can openlydemonstrate the benets of collaborative exchange.

INTERNATIONALCOLLABORATIONS

American University, EgyptCanadian Forest Service

Chalmers University of Technology, SwedenCoimbra University, Portugal

Freesenius-Kabi, GermanyGeorgia Institute of Technology, USA

Harvard University, USA Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Japan

Indian Institute of Technology, IndiaNATO

National Autonomous University of MexicoNorth Shore University Health Systems, USA

Proctor & Gamble, USA Texas A&M University, USA

SAPPI, NetherlandsSwedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology, Sweden

Supreme Council of Antiquities, EgyptUniversit Joseph Fourier, France

BRIDGING THE GAPS > 55BRIDGING THE GAPS > 54

GLOBAL REACH

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS & GLOBAL REACH

The world today has many complex challengesand problems: changes in our climate; i llnessand disease; urban development and planning;cultural and religious tensions; advances in digitalcommunications; the ability to genetically modifycrops; poverty and providing suitable healthcare andwellbeing for an increasingly ageing and expandingpopulation.

The pursuit of solutions to these pressingissues involves not only inter- and multidisciplinaryapproaches but international cooperationand collaboration.

During the BTG programme, project support hasunderpinned 196 new collaborations: 18 of whichwere with international partners. These included otheracademic institutions, public bodies and commercialorganisations and industries in places as diverseas China, the USA, France, Port ugal, Sweden,Russia, Japan, Mexico and India. They include manyprestigious and world-leading organisations such asGeorgia Institute of Technology, Harvard University,the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt, theCanadian Forest Service, Proctor & Gamble, NATO,Texas A&M University, the Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers in Tokyo, and the SwedishInstitute for Food and Biotechnology.

Many of these collaborations have givenunique and challenging insights into the workbeing undertaken.

Our eld work in Canada with the Canadian ForestService, has provided a unique opportunity to meetthis challenge [research on the potential of biochar

and wildre charcoal for carbon sequestration],through interdisciplinary work.

Professor Stefan Doerr, College of Science (BTGproject: Bridging the Knowledge Gap betweenMan-Made Biochar and Wildre Charcoal)

Building global collaborations and networks hasbeen an integral component of the work BTG hasencouraged and so it was natural that BTG alsocontribute to the Universitys EPSRC fundedBuilding Global Engagements in Research Programme(BGER). BGER was established to facilitate researchexchanges between some of the worlds leading


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Blood clot-related illnesses and conditions claim the li ves ofmillions of people, each and every year. In 2008, 17.3million people died from cardiovascular diseases (seven milliondeaths were from heart attacks, six million from strokes). Bloodclots 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 sensorsand lab-on-a-chip technology for point of care applications.

The grant support we had from BTG enabled us to v isit other,world-leading, nanotechnology centres at the Georgia Instituteof Technology and Harvard University, in order to collaboratewith colleagues who specialise in chemical engineeringand drug delivery technologies, to help us rene the workwere undertaking with Piezoelectric Biosensors and HollowMicroneedle.

Biosensors are analytical devices composed of a recognitionelement coupled to a physical transducer (mass, optical,electrochemical and thermal) for qualitative and/or quantitativedetection of biological analytes (a chemical substance orcomponent). Piezoelectric biosensors use piezoelectric ceramicresonators as the core component of the biosensor. Such

ADVANCED PIEZOELECTRICBIOSENSORS AND HOLLOWEDMICRONEEDLE FOR BLOODSAMPLING AND DRUGDELIVERY APPLICATION

CASE STUDY

biosensors are able to detect, for example,multiple biomarkers to aid in early detectionof common types of cancer and heartdisease (Yuen, 2009).

A novel microsystem for blood clottingdiagnosis is currently being developed atSwansea University. The system is based

upon the surface acoustic wave, using apiezoelectric substrate to analyse the bloodclots.

Microneedle technology centres onpainless perforation of the stratum corneum the outermost skin layer. This layer isonly 1020microns thick, but poses aremarkable barrier to the passage oftherapeutics, meaning that transdermaldelivery is currently limited to a low doseof low molecular weight drugs e.g. forthe treatment of nicotine addiction, motionsickness and hormone replacement therapy.Microneedles create tiny pores in thestratum corneum, thereby increasing itspermeability several thousand-fold, andbecause these devices are not long enoughto stimulate the underlying nerve endings,use of microneedles is completely painless(Tyndall National Institute, Ireland). AtSwansea, we have successfully developedsilicon-based Microneedles. Being able to collaborate with chemists,chemical engineers, microbiologists andworld-leading semiconductor and MEMScompany SPTS Technologies has enabledme to rene the research Im doing. I havebeen able to visit the labs and discuss,in person, the work were undertakingat Swansea. As a result we are muchclearer about the clinical requirements ofMicroneedle for healthcare applicationsand we have been successful in applyingto the Technology Strategy Board for a two

year continuation of funding, for researchinto Microneedles and its bio-medicalapplications.

Co-investigators:Dr Owen Guy, Dr Karl Hawkins, RegentsProfesor Zhong Lin Wang, GeorgiaI