Research & Knowledge Exchange - Pure Thought, Practical Solutions

Research & Knowledge Exchange  
Research & Knowledge Exchange

Strategic objective: To improve our competitveness as an international research-driven university, and to be at the forefront of setting and delivering the research agenda, nationally and internationally.

Research and the expansion of knowledge is fundamental to the character of our university. Ideas that have taken root here have gone on to change the world. From the purest thought to the most practical solutions for everyday problems, we celebrate intellectual achievement at every step.

But the competition today is intense. It is central to our ambition that we compete at the global level as a research-driven university, not only in terms of research but through leading and impacting on the national and international research agenda.

We will continue to recruit scholars of the highest standing and to provide opportunities for development for those already at the University. We will encourage all colleagues to maximise their creativity and to seek to reach new heights. In undertaking our research we will seek, where appropriate, to partner with the very best scholars in other institutions and in other sectors.

Recognising our mission to obtain true societal impact from our research we will ensure that we work with potential beneficiaries throughout our research, and where opportunities occur serendipitously we will commit to maximising the subsequent societal impact. We will do this through working closely with industry and the public and voluntary sectors.

We will maintain the highest standards of research governance, accountability and responsibility. Wherever possible, we embrace the principles of open access publishing and the rights of staff and students to publish without hindrance. We will expect our researchers to discuss their work with others and with the public.

We aim to:

  • undertake world-leading research
  • support our researchers and help them develop at all stages of their careers
  • ensure that we partner with the very best scholars regardless of geography or sector
  • maintain the highest standards of research ethics and governance
  • widen the range of our funding sources
  • promote knowledge exchange and commercialisation by working with industry, individual businesses and the public sector so that our research creates the widest possible benefits to society
  • engage with the public at all stages of research
  • exploit commercial opportunities by forming new businesses, licensing technology, creating knowledge transfer partnerships and selling our services to commercial customers

Case Studies

Data proves damage from passive smoking

Smoking in cars exposes child passengers to dangerous levels of poisonous particles. New findings from our Environmental & Occupational Medicine group follow previous work from our Health Economics Research Unit, which was widely credited with smoothing the successful passage of Scottish legislation to make enclosed public places smokefree and influencing policy in Wales and England. Following the legislation, Aberdeen researchers measured the health benefits of improved air quality in bars across Scotland, England and Wales. This work has been central to the public health campaign on the effects of second-hand smoke and has contributed to other international policy changes in smoking restrictions.

New centre, new thinking, new drugs

Our Kosterlitz Centre for Therapeutics reinvents for our modern world the work of the celebrated University of Aberdeen scientist who discovered the morphine-like painkillers produced naturally by the human body. This 1970s discovery marked a landmark in pharmacology and a victory for thinking outside the box. The new interdisciplinary Kosterlitz team will translate ‘Eureka moments’ in the laboratory into potential new therapies for conditions such as pain, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, heart disease, infection and obesity – a linking of academia, industry and business with the benefit to patients at its core.

Maths unlocks the secrets of photosynthesis

Without plants, higher life on the surface of this planet would be impossible. By photosynthesis plants harvest sunlight and use the energy to fix carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This light damages the intricate photosynthetic machinery, and although we knew that plants have developed ways to survive in a rapidly changing environment the molecular mechanisms of photosynthetic acclimation remained a mystery. Now however researchers at our Institute of Complex Systems and Mathematical Biology have developed mathematical models to understand the molecular basis of this survival strategy. This discovery will prove vital in a world of global climate change and increasing energy demand, as it could help develop optimally adapted crops, and industrial production of biofuels.

From conflict to compromise

Time heals – but how? And how long does it take? Our social scientists are at the forefront of research into peace and conflict around the world, teasing out the features of compromise, ‘victimhood’, and the process of truth recovery. The team works across international borders to examine modern conflicts in Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, and South Africa. Our researchers are also examining what lessons we can learn from historical case studies such as Spain after the fall of Franco.