Date: November 2021

SULSA are delighted to launch the third year of our SULSA ECR Prize. This prize allows exceptional postdocs to raise their profile in Scotland and have a prestigious award on their CV.  It includes a fully-funded tour of three Scottish Universities where the awardee will deliver a seminar and meet with staff in order to raise their profile around Scotland, and develop their independent networks, plus £2,000 of flexible funding. The application deadline is 8th December 2021. 

Date: November 2021

Funded by the Scottish Government’s National Transition Training Fund (NTTF), which aims to support people at risk of redundancy as a result of Covid-19 or Brexit or those who seek to align their skill set with industry needs or the ‘Transition to Net Zero’, we are excited to offer tailored training courses that provide in-demand laboratory and manufacturing skills for the Life and Chemical sciences sectors.

Our NTTF training courses will be designed to upskill new entrants and reskill career changers from at-risk areas to make their skill set compatible with industry needs, thereby improving employability prospects in the Life and Chemical Sciences sectors.

Date: September 2021

SULSA have opened applications for our Saltire Emerging Researcher Scheme. This funding aims to promote mobility between Scotland and European research partners with the aim of strengthening existing, and seeding future, research relationships. Funding must be used to support Postgraduate or Early Career Researcher exchanges in Scotland, EU Member States, EEA and EFTA countries.

Date: September 2021

SULSA have launched our Forging Futures scheme to support and develop a cohort of researchers by enabling them to explore the opportunities available to them in academia and industry. Recipients of this scheme will receive group coaching sessions with both Skillfluence and MyFuturePlan, receive £500 towards professional development, enjoy access to industry connections via Interface and become SULSA Ambassadors for Industry Engagement.

Date: July 2021

The Scottish Funding Council has published the final report of their review of Scottish Tertiary Education and Research focusing on how best to achieve a responsive, coherent, and sustainable education, skills and research provision. 

We particularly note the emphasis put on collaborative research and knowledge exchange as these are topics at the heart of SULSA and the new cross-pool initiative, Research Innovation Scotland. The review states “We have seen concerted action from the Pools to take on more of an interdisciplinary challenge focus […] through the establishment of Research Innovation Scotland which aims to explore where, as a collective and with a shared purpose, the Scottish research system can add value and generate outputs greater than the sum of its parts.”

Dr Alison Dun, Executive Director of SULSA says “We are delighted to see this drive toward a more connected and cohesive approach to research and innovation, something Scotland knows how to do well and we look forward to the opportunity to improve upon our foundations, together, and work toward a green recovery and sustainable future.”

Date: June 2021

The first workshop under the Scottish Research Innovation Futures workshop series took place in May 2021. This workshop fell under the SULSA theme Health and Wellbeing and focused on Our Future Health in Scotland. The focus was on two key areas within the Health Tech sector: management of existing long-term conditions, and early detection of disease. The workshop featured a wide variety of speakers, flash presentations and case studies. 

Date: April 2021

The Scottish Research Pools, Innovation Centres and KTN have launched a new collaborative workshop series entitled Scottish Research Innovation Futures. This series aims to take a closer look at key challenge areas and understand how collaborative research and innovation can contribute to overcoming them in Scotland’s mission to build back better.The first workshop focusing on Health and Wellbeing is being organised by SULSA, SINAPSE and KTN.

Date: April 2021

SULSA are delighted to award six researchers for the SULSA Innovation Seed Funding Award, totalling £88,315. This award aims to help early lecturers/PIs support the development of their independent research and their affiliation with the industry sector. A huge thanks goes to IBioIC who are co-funding two of the projects, and to CENSIS who are co-funding one project. Learn more about the funded projects by clicking below.

Date: March 2021

Graduate Employability Masterclasses have been commended as invaluable to creating the next generation of graduates launching their career in the life sciences sector. In 2020 SULSA, in partnership with the Scottish Universities Chemistry Pool (ScotCHEM) joined the fold. 

Date: February 2021

SULSA (in collaboration with ScotCHEM, IBioIC, SAIC and BCB) held the Scottish Natural Products Network (SNaPNet) launch and networking event in February 2021. This new network aims to bring academia and industry together to create a multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral network that can work toward targets such as the Scottish Government’s Net Zero by 2045 pledge and encourage the growth of the bioeconomy. Visit our events page to learn about the network’s upcoming workshops.

Date: December 2020

We’re delighted to announce that the winner of SULSA’s Breaking Barriers in STEM: Artwork Competition is Roxanna Munir who’s entry ‘Everywhere’ really impressed the judges. Check it out now alongside the 1st runner up! 

Date: November 2020

SULSA are excited to launch two new funding calls – our SULSA ECR Development Fund and SULSA Innovation Seed Funding Call. Learn more about these calls and the application deadline now!