News

Data-driven programme designed to tackle global challenges
A flexible new postgraduate programme designed to tackle global challenges through genetics and data skills will launch in September 2025, supported by a dedicated e-learning team and aimed at training the next generation of experts in a range of industries and academic fields.

Approval for project creating tropical seafood using AI in a shipping container
Scientists are set to use a shipping container to help them develop tropical seafood using artificial intelligence on land in Midlothian.
Midlothian Council planners have given the go ahead for the container to be placed on Dryden Farm, Roslin, which is owned by the University of Edinburgh.
Source: Business Insider

University of Edinburgh launches UK-first innovation initiative
The University of Edinburgh has launched a new career development route for academics wishing to focus on commercialisation and engagement with industry.
Source: Business Insider

Higgs Centre for Innovation celebrates £25 million in investment
Companies based at the Higgs Centre for Innovation in Edinburgh have secured over £25 million in funding since the business incubation centre opened in 2018, creating over 150 jobs.
This achievement highlights Higgs’ role in supporting young businesses and fostering growth and innovation in the space and technology sectors in Scotland.

Scottish universities awarded £2m to ‘shape the future of science’
Five Scottish projects have been awarded more than £2m to tackle some of the most pressing health and environmental challenges.
Researchers based at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Glasgow have secured part of a £9m government fund for their projects which are poised “to push the boundaries of knowledge”.
Source: Holyrood

Scotland poised to become ‘world-leader’ in quantum computing with £9m government funding
The UK Government has awarded £8.9m to three Scottish universities to help position Scotland and the UK as a “world-leader in quantum”. One quantum laboratory and two research hubs have secured a share of a new £121m fund to help tackle challenges including crimefighting, fraud, and money laundering.
Source: Holyrood

Scotland can be the “engine room of UK growth”
The Secretary of State for Scotland, the Rt Hon Ian Murray, told an audience at the University of Edinburgh’s Informatics Forum on Friday morning that Scotland can be “the engine room of UK growth”.
Source: The Edinburgh Reporter

Scottish biotech company secures £3.4 million
Scottish biotech engineering company uFraction8 has secured £3.4m in new investment, following the completion of a funding round led by Foresight Group.
Based in Falkirk with a fully-owned subsidiary in Poland, uFraction8’s microfiltration technology is designed to optimise cell and biomass production, offering an energy-efficient alternative to traditional methods used in the production of food, feed and bio-based products.
Source: Business Insider

Red squirrels' low genetic diversity poses disease vulnerability
Worryingly low levels of genetic diversity make Scotland’s red squirrels especially vulnerable to disease, a study has shown.
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh said this could explain why the mammals are so slow to develop resistance to the squirrelpox virus, which is carried by non-native grey squirrels and fatal to reds.
Source: The National

Launch of a New Digital Trust Centre of Excellence in Scotland
Leading financial and technology experts have set up a new Digital Trust Centre of Excellence in Scotland to make the digital world safer and more secure.
Source: The Scotsman