Big money for tiny tech

Birmingham, Newcastle and Nottingham universities have secured more than Pounds 5 million for nanotechnology research.

The grants have been allocated as part of the Department of Trade and Industry's micro and nanotechnology manufacturing initiative.

Birmingham will lead a £1.5 million collaboration with industry to develop sub-millimetre pressure sensors to determine how a fluid moves and feels; the Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology at Newcastle will receive £3 million to build laboratories for research across medicine, agriculture and engineering; and Nottingham will get nearly £750,000 to develop anti-corrosion coatings.