November 2009 News

Friday 27th November 2009

The University has revealed plans to create 20 new posts in Engineering, Science and Business to support and enhance its world-leading research portfolio.

The new posts under the John Anderson Research Leadership scheme include three new appointments in the Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry:

• Professor of Chemical Biology
• Two Lectureships/Senior Lectureships in Chemical Biology

The three appointments are intended to be complementary to each other and will substantially enhance the intrinsic capacity of Pure and Applied Chemistry to strengthen and develop the partnership with the Strathclyde Institute for Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences (external link).

In particular, this initiative will enhance Strathclyde’s influence and significance as a partner in major research consortia with other leading scientists (such as at the Beatson Institute), clinicians, and the NHS.

The closing date for application is December 14th 2009.

Professor in Chemical Biology

• Full details for the John Anderson Research Leadership: Professor in Chemical Biology vacancy (pdf) (external link)
• Apply for John Anderson Research Leadership: Professor in Chemical Biology vacancy (external link)

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Chemical Biology (Two Posts)

• Full details for the John Anderson Research Leadership: Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Chemical Biology vacancies (pdf)
• Apply for John Anderson Research Leadership: Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Chemical Biology vacancies (external link)

For more information regarding these vacancies or the John Anderson Research Leadership Scheme, please visit http://www.flashesofinspiration.com (external link) or view the University press release (external link).

Tuesday 24th November 2009

Student Shiona Croft has won the first ever Wiley-Blackwell Forensic Prize on Strathclyde's prestigious MSc Forensic Science course. Shiona was presented with her award from Rachel Ballard, Executive Commissioning Editor for Wiley-Blackwell after the graduation ceremony on the 4th November.

The prize for the ‘Top Forensic Science student' was awarded for the highest cumulative marks within the full-time post-graduate MSc Forensic Science course.

Professor Jim Fraser, Director of the Centre for Forensic Science said:
"We are delighted to present this award in partnership with Wiley-Blackwell in recognition of the outstanding success of Shiona in the MSc Forensic Science. We had an exceptional number of students who received distinctions this year and Shiona the best of this group."

Shiona, who is a forensic scientist from Australia, has been living in Scotland for the past 12 months, accompanied by her boyfriend Chris, who has been a great support while Shiona studied hard on the course.

In the audience with Chris was Shiona's mother, who came all the way from Australia to attend the graduation. Shiona, who received a book token worth £150, said:
"I am truly honoured to have received this award. My role in Brisbane working in the field of illicit drugs has been extremely interesting and rewarding. However, I wanted to pursue further studies and what attracted me to this program was the amazing reputation of the University of Strathclyde, the high level of incorporated hands-on lab work and the wide range of topics covered during the course.

This year has surpassed all my expectations and I would like to thank the professors, the members of the faculty, my very supportive friends and family and my colleagues back in Brisbane for giving me the year off to come and attend further studies. Furthermore, a sincere thank you to Wiley-Blackwell for supporting this award. The prize will be well used."

Sponsorship of the award is from Wiley-Blackwell publishers who publish a range of forensic science text books as well as the Journal of Forensic Sciences (one of only three dedicated forensic science journals in the world)..

Rachel Ballard said: "Wiley-Blackwell are delighted to support the University of Strathclyde with their Award for the Top Forensic Science Student by providing the winner, Shiona Croft with £150 worth of Wiley-Blackwell books."

The University of Strathclyde has provided postgraduate education in forensic science for longer than any other university in the United Kingdom and is internationally recognised as a centre of excellence in forensic science education, research and practice. The Centre for Forensic Science is unique in the range, experience and expertise of its staff, most of whom combine teaching, research, casework and professional activities.

The MSc in Forensic Science at The University of Strathclyde is the longest running course of its kind in the UK and one of the oldest in the world. The course was first established in 1967 and has since graduated hundreds of students originating from over 60 countries.

Friday 20th November 2009

Congratulations to Dr Karen Faulds, who received the Young Life Scientist of the Year Award at the prestigious Nexxus Annual Life Science Awards (West), run by Nexxus, the networking organisation for central Scotland's life scientists.

Karen, who is a lecturer in the Inorganic Chemistry section of the Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, won the award for her work in finding DNA irregularities which could lead to the detection of diseases and infections.

Professor David Littlejohn, Head of Department, said: "We are delighted that Dr Faulds' work has been acknowledged with this important Award. This is the second time that a Nexxus award has been won by a member of staff from our department. Many congratulations to Karen, this is well deserved recognition."

Dr Faulds works in enhancing the sensitivity and multiplexing capabilities of bioanalytical techniques that can detect diseases and infections by the presence of specific DNA sequences. This could contribute to advances in several branches of life and clinical science such as molecular disease diagnostics, drug discovery and testing, and forensics.

Scientists have long used the Polymerase Chain Reaction to find single errors in long strands of DNA which indicate a specific disease. This method makes many copies, so that an error is more obvious and easier to find, but it is also a time-consuming and error-prone process. Dr Faulds is working on methods to try and eliminate these problems - in one approach, she makes the error much more conspicuous, rather than making more copies.

Dr Faulds uses the extremely sensitive detection technique of surface enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS), which can be used to detect single molecules and single base mismatches in DNA. She focuses her research efforts on highlighting the advantages and furthering the capabilities of this method in life science applications, such as diagnosing disease based on a specific gene sequence in an individual's genome or detecting DNA sequences indicative of a specific organism such as MRSA.

As Dr Faulds researches the capabilities of this method of analysing biological materials, she has achieved many landmarks, including establishing the greater sensitivity limits of SERRS to establish its superiority over existing bioanalytical methods. She was the first to demonstrate that SERRS could be used for the quantitative measurement of DNA and to demonstrate simultaneous detection of up to six different sequences of DNA using this technology.

Karen said: "I am delighted to receive this award - the research carried out within my group is challenging on so many levels and has a fantastic array of potential applications involving bioanalytical chemistry. I feel we're just at the beginning of a scientific journey and are continually forming new, interdisciplinary collaborations, with scientists and clinicians to try and solve difficult problems using the added value of the collective partners. The collaborative atmosphere of the team and the University as a whole has allowed me to explore new ideas and encouraged the investigation of ambitious research projects. This award is a reflection of the activity that my group is responsible for and it gives my group and me great pleasure in being recognised in this way."

She is committed to advancing her research along with technology transfer to the commercial market. She is responsible for two patents on SERRS-based novel DNA-detection methods and is a founding member of D3 Technologies Ltd, a spin-out company from the University of Strathclyde founded on the technology she has developed along with her colleagues Professor W Ewen Smith and Professor Duncan Graham.

Dr Faulds received her BSc (Hons) in Forensic and Analytical Chemistry and her PhD in Detection of Drugs of Abuse by SERS, as well as a PgCert, from the University of Strathclyde. She embarked on two post doctoral research positions at the University of Strathclyde before taking up her current lecturing position in 2006.

Congratulations to former student Dr Franziska Schoenebeck (external link) who has recently been appointed as Assistant Professor at ETH Zürich.

Franziska is currently completing her postdoctoral stay at UCLA in computational chemistry in the group of Professor Ken Houk and will move to her new post in the New Year.

Franziska was raised in Berlin. Her first two years of studies in Chemistry were at the Technical University of Berlin before coming to the University of Strathclyde in 2003 via the Erasmus program for her final undergraduate year. She then achieved her PhD (awarded in 2008) in experimental organic chemistry in the group of Professor John Murphy, working in the field of neutral organic electron donors.

Professor John A Murphy said: "Franzi has expertise in experimental and computational chemistry and that is a powerful combination for tackling the important questions in molecular science". We send our best wishes to Franzi in her new career.

Thursday 5th November 2009

For the second year in a row, a Strathclyde Forensic and Analytical Chemistry student has won the UK wide Most Meritorious Student award from the Forensic Science Society (FSSoc).

Gary Judge, from Kilmarnock, who graduated earlier this year, was judged by the FSSoc to be the most meritorious student on a recognised Forensic Science programme in the UK.

Dr Anya Hunt, Chair of Standards of the Forensic Science Society said:

"I wanted to say a personal congratulation to all involved with The Strathclyde F&A course. For the second year the panel that assess these awards have been incredibly impressed with the calibre of undergraduates that this course is producing - you should all be very proud."

Gary who achieved a First Class Honours MSci in Forensic and Analytical Chemistry is now working with the Scottish Police Services Authority. Although his current role is more administrative than scientific he hopes that with some police experience he can successfully make the transition to Forensic Scientist.

Dr Debbie Willison, Head of Teaching in the Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry said:

"I take great pleasure in Gary's winning of this Award, it is external recognition of his high achievement and hard work throughout his studies. We look forward to following Gary's progress in his future career."

Gary said:

"I am extremely proud to have received this award. Not only does it reward my hard work and commitment throughout my studies but it is also a testament to the quality of the Forensic and Analytical Chemistry degree here at Strathclyde. It is a great honour for my achievements to be recognised at a national level and I am sure the award will distinguish me from other graduates who also hope to pursue a career in Forensic Science."

The Award includes free membership to the Society for one year, a £50.00 cheque and a Forensic Science Society Shield and Certificate.