Short items

The European Commission has launched a promoting innovation in Europe (PRO INNO) initiative with five calls for proposals under the research and innovation section of the sixth framework programme. PRO INNO is designed to foster trans-European cooperation between national and sub-national innovation programmes and actions. The budget for the five proposals is €29.25 million (?19.68 million). The call for proposals is open until 5 January 2006. 

An EPSRC grand challenge award worth ?8 million has been won by multi-site consortium remedi (regenerative medicine - a new industry). This is the first major European study into automated manufacture of tissue engineered products, say consortium members. The UK based consortium of academic partners at Loughborough, Nottingham, Cambridge, Birmingham and Ulster universities, and industrial partners including The Automation Partnership (TAP), Cambridge, UK, will provide a team of over 30 researchers to develop automated methods to produce cost-effective tissue engineered products for use in the emerging field of regenerative medicine. 

A collaboration between the universities of Bath, Bristol, Southampton and Surrey, the SETsquared Partnership, has been awarded ?1.5 million by the Department of Trade and Industry to expand its joint work with US universities. The grant will facilitate cooperation between the partnership and the universities of California San Diego and California Irvine in areas of telecommunications, life science, environment, nanotechnology, and new materials.  

Martin Snowden, director of research for the school of science, at the University of Greenwich at Medway, UK, is to join the EPSRC Peer Review College advising the government on its investment of ?500 million to fund research and training in physical sciences, and links with life sciences.