Congratulations to Dr Fabrizio Alberti on being awarded a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship. Through his fellowship, Fabrizio will develop a platform to produce high-value chemicals in mushroom-forming fungi.
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Applications are invited for an Associate Professor or Professor of Infection Microbiology to join the School of Life Sciences at the University of Warwick.

The School of Life Sciences has an international presence in microbiology, particularly within the global research priority of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). We aim to appoint an outstanding new academic staff member to strengthen research in cross-disciplinary approaches, complementing existing strengths in the School and leading a laboratory based research group in one or more of the following areas: antimicrobial resistance, anti-infective discovery, host-pathogen interactions and immunology including the microbiome, microbial genetics, virology and structural and chemical biology approaches to address human and animal infection.

Closing date: 30 April 2021

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Our impressive new IBRB biomedical research building has been completed. The new state-of-the-art lab spaces will support our interdisciplinary world-class research in neuroscience, microbiology and infection, and cell biology.

Press Release (24 March 2021)

Research by Dr Chris Corre and colleagues could lead to improved manufacturing of existing antibiotics, and open up opportunities to discover new ones.

Press Release (3 Feb 2021)

The University of Warwick has been named as one of the world’s top 20 Most International universities by the Times Higher Education (THE) – ranked 20^th overall and 10^th in the UK.
Press Release (2 Feb 2021)

A computational model of a human lung cell has been used to understand how SARS-CoV-2 draws on human host cell metabolism to reproduce by Dr Hadrien Delattre and Professor Orkun Soyer. This study helps understand how the virus uses the host to survive, and enable drug predictions for treating the virus to be made.
Press Release (25 November 2020)

New genetic sensors, developed by Professor Alfonso Jaramillo and colleagues, could function as a lab test device and even as a live monitoring system inside living cells.

Press Release (26 October 2020)

Organised by Professor Alfonso Jaramillo and colleagues, the 1st International BioDesign Research Conference will be held 1-18 December 2020 via Zoom. The conference will showcase the latest achievements and research progress in the field of Biosystems Design and Synthetic Biology.
Find out more and register.

This week, it was reported that the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna for their work on the technology of genome editing - more specifically, Crispr-Cas9. Scientists in the School of Life sciences who also research Crispr-Cas9 explain what it is, and discuss its significance in our lives.

Expert comment (8 October 2020)

Visit the SLS Virtual Yearbook 2020 to see messages celebrating their success.

A new method for engineering living materials called ‘MeniFluidics’, made by researchers from the departments of Life Sciences and Physics, could see a transformation in tissue engineering and bio-art, as well as new ways to research cellular interactions.

Dr Munehiro Asally comments:
“We hope MeniFluidics will be used widely by biophysics, microbiologists, engineers and also artists! As it is a simple and versatile method.”

Press Release

We use cells to breathe, to moderate body temperature, to grow and many other every day processes, however the cells in these processes are so complex its left scientists perplexed into how they develop in different environments. Professor Orkun Soyer and colleagues say future research needs to look into the bioelectrical composition of cells for answers.

Press Release

A microbial community is a complex, dynamic system composed of hundreds of species and their interactions, they are found in oceans, soil, animal guts and plant roots. Each system feeds the Earth’s ecosystem and their own growth, as they each have their own metabolism that underpin biogeochemical cycles.

Professor Orkun Soyer and colleagues have produced a thermodynamic model for simulating the dynamics of microbial communities.

Press Release

Two academics from Life Sciences have been awarded a UKRI Future Leader Fellowship.

• Dr Byron Carpenter for his project titled: Developing a synthetic signalling system capable of the precise spatial and temporal control of protein function in living cells.
• Dr Erin Connelly for her project: Datamining medieval medical texts for modern medicines.

The fellowship scheme is awarded to the best researchers in the UK, keeping research and innovation in the UK world class.

Press Release

The microbes found in aquatic environments and their interactions will be investigated by Warwick researcher Professor Orkun Soyer, thanks to an investigator award from The Gordon and Betty Moore foundation.

Press release

SLS is hosting a FREE Royal Society of Biology sponsored HUBS learning and teaching workshop on 20 March 2020 to develop ideas and strategies to inform our understanding of what makes for the best possible undergraduate bioscience first year.

A £4 million grant from The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) was awarded to researchers led by Professor Xavier Didelot, to set up a new Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Genomics and Enabling Data. This unit will ensure that cutting edge genomic methods are being used to protect public health.

Leading employers have ranked the University of Warwick as one of UK’s top three universities for “High Flier” graduates most sought after.

· A slime Santa beard has been made by Ian Hands-Portman at the University of Warwick’s School of Life Sciences

· The slime is a not a plant, animal or fungi it is a myxomycete, and feeds off oats, likes hot peppers, but doesn’t like chocolate

· Slime molds are useful to scientists and are being used to research cancer treatments as it is one cell with multiple nuclei, they also solve mazes and maps in a more efficient way than humans, so computer scientists are looking at using them for faster lower energy computers and sat-navs.

Knowledge Centre article

Whether you are fascinated by superbugs, stem cells, or circadian rhythms, a new programme of free events from the University of Warwick will give you the ideal vantage point on biological and medical science.'Science on the Hill' is a new programme of public engagement events jointly hosted by the School of Life Sciences and the Wellcome-Warwick Quantiative Biomedicine Programme at Warwick Medical School. These interactive two hour events taking place across the academic year will feature 20 researchers giving a birds-eye view of the latest exciting developments in their discipline.

Press release