Investment in Scotland's nanotechnology sector

Opportunities

  • IT - Nanotechnology has the potential to offer new materials in the search to find low-cost, non-volatile memory solutions as well as high-definition, low-power consumption displays
  • Energy - Nanotechnology promises greater efficiency and cleanliness for fossil fuel sources while also potentially making photovoltaic solar cells cost effective and efficient renewable alternatives
  • Healthcare - Faster screening of new drug candidates, personalised medicine and the creation of more
    efficient drug delivery systems, new diagnostic tools and prosthetics are all in development

Scotland's strengths

Nanomaterials

Scotland can truly claim to be leading the field in nanomaterials research and development, building on a combination of expert knowledge and innovative genius.

Many new multi-disciplinary centres link nanomaterials expertise in semiconductor and silicon technology with life sciences, materials science, biochemistry and mechanical engineering to provide solutions to problems across a range of industries.

For example:

  • Glasgow University’s Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering has produced commercial applications for medical diagnostics
  • University of the West of Scotland’s Thin Film Centre has collaborated internationally on projects such as ultra-barrier layers for OLED displays on flexible substrates, metallization processes for active matrix backplanes, broadband optical monitoring and thin film barriers
  • Research led by Professor Lee Cronin at the University of Glasgow is aimed at constructing complex functional molecular architectures which are not based on biologically derived building blocks. The group are the first in the world to apply temperature controlled high resolution electrospray mass spectrometry to look at reaction kinetics, reaction mechanism, and the self assembly of complex inorganic architecture
  • Professor David Leigh’s group at the University of Edinburgh is concerned with developing simple ideas and
    concepts across the traditional branches of the molecular, biomolecular and materials sciences by the design and synthesis of new types of molecular level architectures to control and influence function and properties

Nanomedicine

Research areas include:

  • Biomedical applications of nanotubes
  • Surgical instrumentation and hearing implants bring together nanocomposite coatings, bio-medical engineering, nanophysiology
  • Signal processing expertise
  • Tissue engineering
  • A 100-strong team in cutting-edge work based on human genome research while Jon Cooper’s group in Glasgow is using electronic engineering to create tools to manipulate and measure single biological molecules
  • Electronic engineering to create tools to manipulate and measure single biological molecules.
    Cell engineering

Nanofabrication

A host of prototyping facilities exist in Scotland. Multidisciplinary teams can create commercial opportunities via a wide range of technologies. The commercialisation of research can be supported by funding.

For example, Semefab created the UK's largest centre for design and development of micro machines and nanosystems, thanks to £15 million of Scottish Enterprise funding.

Research and development

Ten of Scotland’s universities undertake substantial specialist research in nanoscience and proactively look at different technologies. Glasgow University is known as being one of the leading universities in the UK, behind Oxford and Cambridge.

These academic institutions have a good record of collaborative work with the private sector, which has resulted in a string of successful spin-off companies.

Research strengths in Scotland

Nanotechnology research carried out in Scotland is having a major impact on areas such as electronics, optoelectronics, cancer research, genomics and cell engineering.

There is currently numerous nanotechnology-dedicated research groups located across the country, with about 200 researchers involved in the industry.

The University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Integrated Micro and Nano Systems (IMNS) is just one of these.

The IMNS includes the Miniature Wireless Drug Implant to Revolutionise Medication Delivery Group. This group is developing a prototype of a device to implant in the body that can deliver therapeutic drugs via a wireless link.

This is just one small sample of the groundbreaking work which is currently taking place at Scottish institutions.