NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH RESEARCH
The NIHR's Health Technology Assessment programme produces independent research information on the effectiveness, costs and broader impact of healthcare treatments and tests for those who plan, provide or receive National Health Service care. Listed here are the April-May 2009 research grant awards.
Award winner: Gail Topping
Institution: Dental Health Services and Research Unit, University of Dundee
Value: £2,870,181
FiCTION - Filling Children's Teeth: Indicated Or Not?
Award winner: David Weller
Institution: University of Edinburgh
Value: £243,660
The value of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) in pre-operative staging of colorectal cancer
Award winner: Simon G. Thompson
Institution: Institute of Public Health
Value: £259,976
The growth and rupture rate of small abdominal aortic aneurysms: implications for population rescreening intervals
Award winner: Ibrahim Abubakar
Institution: Centre for Infections, Health Protection Agency
Value: £172,479
Systematic review and meta-analysis of the current evidence on the duration of BCG protection
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH COUNCIL
URGENCY GRANTS
Award winner: J.W. Silvertown
Institution: The Open University
Value: £45,546
Experimental investigation of the origin of fynbos plant community structure after fire
Award winner: K. McCaffrey
Institution: Durham University
Value: £53,977
A LiDAR and field study of surface rupture and post-seismic slip for the 6 pril 2009 L'Aquila earthquake (M6.3)
ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL
Award winner: J. Hein
Institution: University of Edinburgh
Value: £37,289
Multiscale modelling of magnetised plasma turbulence
Award winner: A. Peacock
Institution: University of Southampton
Value: £339,525
Fiberised silicon: a new platform for nonlinear photonics devices
Award winner: A.S.H. Marmier
Institution: University of Exeter
Value: £340,473
Modelling negative linear compressibility: from crystals to scaffolds
Award winner: H.J. Jensen
Institution: Imperial College London
Value: £82,481
Scaling in complex systems
Award winner: G. McHale
Institution: Nottingham Trent University
Value: £324,170
Particle-based superhydrophobic surfaces: lab models-to-field sample behaviour
Award winner: T.G. Constandinou
Institution: Imperial College London
Value: £157,730
A bidirectional power/data transfer platform based on electro-optical effects in standard CMOS
Award winner: D.J. Tozer
Institution: Durham University
Value: £412,116
State-of-the-Art TDDFT for light-emitting complexes
Award winner: P.W. May
Institution: University of Bristol
Value: £362,768
Microplasmas from diamond arrays
Award winner: A.J. Bell
Institution: University of Leeds
Value: £88,524
High-temperature piezoelectric materials
Award winner: P.G. Lagoudakis
Institution: University of Southampton
Value: £341,233
Engineering polariton non-linearity in organic and hybrid-semiconductor microcavities
Award winner: G. Held
Institution: University of Reading
Value: £6,285
The first layers of the metal-solution interface: interactions of enantioselective modifier and reactant molecules on a wet model catalyst surface
Award winner: S. Chakraborty
Institution: University of Manchester
Value: £402,957
Aperiodic lattices for photonic engineering of terahertz quantum cascade lasers
IN DETAIL
Award winner: Stefan Doerr
Institution: Swansea University
Value: £52,835
The catastrophic Victoria wildfires: impact of extreme burn severity on the soil system
This urgency proposal aims to collect soil samples from the site of the wildfires near Melbourne, Australia in February 2009, to determine the impact it has had on the soil system. Extreme wildfires are expected to occur more often as the effects of global warming begin to materialise, which will affect vegetation recovery, hydrological response, soil erodibility and other local ecosystems. Dr Doerr and his team will make the soil samples available to the scientific community for future analyses, and will also obtain data to allow for more accurate predictions of the impact of severe wildfires.