Adventurous research to improve the sense of touch in prosthetic arms and develop tests to measure blood clot formation and breakdown are among 100 recently announced projects.
The projects are funded by the UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) through an £80 million investment to boost fundamental research, enhance UK leadership in science and technology, and deliver life-changing breakthroughs for society and growth. They include:
- Developing tailored neuro-signals for prosthetic arms to improve the sense of touch and quality of life for the 2 million upper-limb amputees worldwide.
- Creating new ‘biomarker’ tools to measure blood clot formation and breakdown in the same blood test, reducing burden on the NHS.
- Developing camera-based technology for British Sign Language recognition and translation for devices like Alexa to protect personal privacy and make tools more inclusive.
- Designing better school outdoor spaces to improve thermal comfort and heat health, delivering healthier lifestyles for children.
Curiosity to discovery
The projects aim to deliver ingenious ideas and innovations in fields vital to the UK and wider world from healthcare, clean energy, materials, AI to quantum computing.
Discovery science has led to countless major breakthroughs in the past, from fast-track vaccines to lithium-ion batteries powering the consumer electronics revolution. Patrick Vallance, Science Minister has hailed it “the goose that lays the golden egg”.
Geoffrey Hinton, ‘Godfather of AI’ and joint winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize for Physics, started out at Edinburgh University, supported by EPSRC’s forerunner, the Science Research Council.
Professor Charlotte Deane, EPSRC’s Executive Chair, said, “Discovery science is the bedrock of innovation, feeding the pipeline of progress critical to prosperity, sustainability, security, competitiveness, quality of life and resilience to future challenges.
“It’s always been a UK strength and EPSRC has always been at the forefront of maintaining and extending this national capability. Utilising and enhancing expertise across the country, these new EPSRC-backed projects will generate a legacy of extraordinary new knowledge, with impacts felt across the UK and the globe.”
UK-wide drive
The package of projects will harness the skills from across the country, with 39 higher education institutions receiving support.
Funding examples
Engineering: a finishing touch for prosthetic arms
A key limitation of prosthetic arms is their inability to provide feedback on, for instance, the texture and slipperiness of things that users touch. Integrating an artificial but natural-feeling sense of touch would hugely help the world’s two million upper-limb amputees and boost their quality of life.
An EPSRC New Investigator Award will enable Dr Ben Ward-Cherrier to drive a University of Bristol engineering project to develop a proof-of-concept system meeting this need. The aim is to generate tailored neuro-signals by combining novel touch sensors with nerve stimulators. Underpinning a new breed of life-changing prostheses, this work could also deliver valuable benefits for robotics and teleoperation.
Tools to tackle blood clots
Triggering strokes, heart attacks and deep vein thrombosis, blood clots are a major cause of death and disability. Clot-busting drugs are often ineffective and can cause complications, and better treatment requires improved understanding of blood-clotting and clot-breakdown processes in patients.
An EPSRC Standard Research Grant will enable Professor Karl Hawkins and colleagues at Swansea University to develop ‘biomarkers’ allowing clot formation and breakdown to be measured efficiently in the same test on the same blood sample. Success will help pharma firms develop novel therapeutic strategies to tackle blood clots – improving outcomes for patients and reducing the burden on the NHS.
Taking the heat out of outdoor play
Children spend 30% of their time at school and 30% of that time in playgrounds. But design of such spaces is insufficiently child-centric in terms of thermal comfort and heat health. Climate change further complicates the challenge of keeping children safe while encouraging outdoor activity.
Supported by an EPSRC Standard Research Grant, Professor Marialena Nikolopoulou of the University of Kent is leading a collaboration to produce new mathematical models and fresh guidelines that address this issue. Better design guidance on schools’ open spaces will inform policymakers, planners and building professionals, and help to deliver active, healthy lifestyles for children.
Helping sign language keep up with the times
Camera technology has reshaped our lives, offering better communication, enhanced security and new possibilities. But serious concerns surround personal privacy, emotional well-being and the impact of constant surveillance. Many people, including sign language users relying on camera-based Sign Language Recognition Technology (SLRT), experience altered behaviour, self-censorship and emotional strain.
Funded by an EPSRC New Investigator Award, Dr Shelly Vishwakarma is leading a University of Southampton ICT initiative to develop a privacy-preserving radar-based prototype for British Sign Language recognition and translation. By incorporating this innovative technology into devices like Alexa, the aim is to reduce the digital divide, ensuring sign language users are not excluded from using these tools.
Mathematical Sciences: game-changing gels
‘Polyelectrolyte’ gels which change size and shape in response to their environment could help to deliver advances in robotics, drug delivery, water purification and energy storage. But the ability to control these changes is critical and requires clearer understanding of the physics underpinning the gels’ behaviour.
Supported by an EPSRC New Investigator Award, Dr Matthew Hennessy is spearheading a University of Bristol project harnessing sophisticated mathematical models to generate new insights into how these gels behave, from nanometre to centimetre scale. By enabling improved design and optimised use, this work will aid development of gels effective in a variety of vital applications.
Physical Sciences: suitable shells for polymer nanoparticles
With diameters a thousand times less than human hair, polymer nanoparticles have a big impact in areas such as medical imaging and drug delivery. Nanoparticles made from smart polymers which respond to their environment offer extra potential but must be coated in the right type of shell to realise this.
An EPSRC New Investigator Award will enable Dr Helen Willcock at Loughborough University and mathematical science colleagues at the University of Lincoln to use computer simulations and practical experiments to explore how such shells interact with their environments. The research will aid design of safe, effective smart polymer nanoparticles, for use in drug delivery and medical imaging.