New research agreement links Southampton and Shanghai

Early career researchers will be able to conduct research in both the UK and China, thanks to a new grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

On a recent visit to China, Professor Chris Proud of the School of Biological Sciences spent a day at the prestigious Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences (SIBS) and met researchers working in his field of the control of gene expression. They were keen to establish a connection with Chris’s laboratory in Southampton.

Chris and the School’s Dr Vincent O’Connor have now secured a BBSRC grant for a China Partnering Award to fund a four-year exchange of postdoctoral and postgraduate researchers between Southampton and SIBS. “Chinese universities are involved in a major programme of investment in its scientific infrastructure aimed at encouraging researchers working overseas to come home,” says Chris. “China is rapidly becoming a major centre for scientific research and now is the time to establish strong links between our two countries.”

The exchange will centre around the disciplines of biochemistry, cell biology, nutritional science and neurology. SIBS is part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and is an internationally-renowned research establishment with excellent facilities and outstanding research students. A new centre for protein research is under construction on the outskirts of Shanghai and Chris hopes Southampton researchers will be able to work there as part of the arrangement.

For more information about SIBS, see http://www.sibs.ac.cn/en/index.asp .