News
Project to restore 'vital' seagrass around Scotland
A £2.4m seagrass planting programme has been launched to help restore the plant in seas around the north of Scotland.
The project aims to plant 14 hectares (34.6 acres) of seagrass, often described as a "wonder plant" by conservationists, over the next three years.
Source: BBC
£10M Investment in New Space Facilities in Scotland
New space facilities will be constructed at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) to facilitate a major European Space Agency (ESA) mission in Scotland
The laboratory, funded by the UK Government’s investments in ESA, will be used to assemble the optical benches for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission.
Source: DIGIT
Renewables training scheme targets ex-military
Partnership with the Ministry of Defence’s Enhanced Learning Credits Scheme aims to fill skills gap.
The Energy Training Academy (ETA) is stepping up its bid to close the renewables skills gap by offering Scotland’s first direct route to becoming a low carbon heating engineer.
Source: Business Insider
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
Peatlands project to tackle greenhouse gas emissions
A major new project has been launched to tackle greenhouse gas emissions from drained peatlands.
SRUC is the UK lead in the EU-funded Horizon Europe project 'Socio-Economic and Climate and Environmental Aspects of Paludiculture' (Paludi4all) – the productive use of wet and rewetted peatlands.
Edinburgh Science Festival's 2025 programme announced
This year’s Festival will explore the challenges of living on a planet with finite resources, through the lenses of science fiction and space exploration, with the theme Spaceship Earth.
Source: The Herald
Reintroducing wolves to Highlands could help native woodlands, says study
Researchers say the animals could keep red deer numbers under control, leading to storage of 1m tonnes of CO2.
Source: The Guardian
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
Scotland’s Life Sciences Conference & Awards 2025: Uniting industry leaders to shape the future
Scotland’s thriving life sciences sector, a key driver of innovation and economic growth, is set to take centre stage in 2025 with the launch of Scotland’s Life Sciences Conference, sponsored by Moderna.
Source: The Scotsman
Angel syndicate Tricapital's record year provides backing for 500 Scottish jobs
A Scottish business angel syndicate has helped to create and secure more than 500 jobs thanks to its record investment programme.
Tricapital Angels has completed 18 deals over the past 12 months, with its high-net-worth members pumping more than £3.5 million of their own money into some of the country’s most innovative companies.
Source: The Scotsman