The Universities of Strathclyde, St Andrews, Heriot-Watt and Glasgow, together with Stanford University and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), are collaborating in a project which has won funding worth £1.6 million over three years from the Science Bridges awards, announced by Research Councils UK (RCUK).
The project, SU2P, is designed to capitalise on leading research in the photonics sector, in fields including life sciences and renewable energy, and the commercial opportunities the research offers.
It will also bolster existing links between universities and businesses in Scotland and the US.
The three-year venture between the six institutions focuses on:
- Biophotonics, including stem cell imaging and neuroscience photonics
- Solar cell devices and characterisation
- Integrated photonics
- Solid-state laser engineering and nonlinear optics
- Photonics sensors, including atom and quantum optic sensors and environmental science and technology
The project gives talented young researchers the opportunity to experience working in laboratories in California. It also enables businesses in the US and the UK to share ideas and expertise with academics in both countries.
Professor Allister Ferguson, Deputy Principal of Strathclyde and Principal Investigator in the Collaboration, said: "This is an ambitious and inventive programme aimed at delivering huge social and economic benefits. We are pleased to have secured funding from RCUK Science Bridges to work towards this goal.
"Photonics is a sector with vast capacity for innovation in research and for commercial opportunities. It is dominated in the UK by small companies, and we aim to build on that capacity through this venture, by broadening and strengthening the links in photonics between Scotland and California.
"Through this project, we intend to build enduring relationships which will form the basis of a network with sustainable economic impact."