The SWBio DTP is led by the University of Bristol, together with the Universities of Bath, Cardiff and Exeter, alongside Rothamsted Research. This partnership also includes the following associate partners; Marine Biological Association (MBA), University of Plymouth, SETsquared Bristol, Swansea University, UCB Pharma and University of the West of England (UWE). SWBio4 will offer PhD studentships over five cohorts starting in October 2025, with a vision to train the next generation of highly skilled leaders in research, innovation, science policy, and communication. Students will receive structured training in data and project management, science communication, innovation, research impact, and artificial intelligence.
Professor Jeremy Tavaré, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Faculty of Health and Life Sciencesat the University of Bristol, said: “This award is a testament to the excellent academic and support teams across the existing SWBio Doctoral Training Partnership, which have built a buoyant, multi-disciplinary research training environment, with academic and non-academic partners guiding and championing 350 PhD students to date.”
Professor Jon Lane, Director of the SWBio DTP and Professor of Cell Biology at the University of Bristol, said: “This is fantastic news. We are delighted to have received this vote of confidence in our vision to train and inspire future leaders in bioscience research and innovation. This award is a huge endorsement of our sector-leading biosciences departments within our institutions, recognising the world class biosciences research taking place in the South West and Wales.”
Professor Aniko Varadi, Lead of the SWBio DTP at UWE Bristol added: “Our bioscience research and innovation training formed integral part and contributed to the success of the SWBio DTP in the past five years. This award is the recognition of our excellent research, PhD supervision and training, which will enable us to build on our success and grow talented PhD students working in biology addressing significant global challenges.”
Vertical farms for crops eliminate the soil microbes that, in the field, help plants grow – UWE Bristol academics are putting the microbes back.
Professor Neil Willey, Dr Mukesh Sharma, and PhD student Segun Ogunmefun are part of a €6 million European Innovation Commission (EIC) project, ‘Microbial Hydroponics (Mi-Hy)’, that is making vertical farms more sustainable by incorporating microbial processes.
In the next few decades Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) will produce an even higher proportion of the world’s food than it does now. It will include not just greenhouses but vertical farms and urban agriculture. In CEA crops are frequently grown without soil in a controlled environment with artificial light. In contrast to growing in soil, crops are just fed a nutrient solution (‘hydroponics’) and there’s no microbiome involved in nutrient uptake – a bit like intravenously feeding a human. In the field, the soil around plant roots (the rhizosphere) teems with microbes that help not just nutrient uptake but also stress avoidance and pathogen resistance. When plants in hydroponics have no rhizosphere microbiome, they are completely dependent on inorganic unsustainable sources of nutrients and their taste and nutritional quality can be different. This makes sustainable growth of nutritious crops in hydroponics difficult.
Basil growing in hydroponics in the Envirotro
The Mi-Hy project is using wastewater streams to drive Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) and Microbial Electrolysis Cells (MECs) and is developing a system to manage them as a prosthetic rhizosphere. This prosthesis captures nutrients from waste, provides energy for lights and pumps, and produces organic compounds like those of the rhizosphere. The project is also developing designs for incorporating this hydroponic system into urban spaces. The plant growth experiments for the project will be done in the UWE Envirotron and the whole system will be demonstrated at, for example, the Sony Computer Science Labs in Paris and the Milan Triannale 2025. Numerous UWE student projects and modules are linked to the research.
We’ve already been able to capture from waste streams more than 50% of the nitrogen that hydroponic plants need so we’re confident that when we’ve made the whole system and can fine-tune it, we will be able to grow plants completely on nitrogen captured from waste streams. We‘re hoping that we might help develop buildings that can feed their inhabitants!
Professor Neil Willey, Dr Mukesh Sharma, and PhD student Segun Ogunmefun are part of a €6 million European Innovation Commission (EIC) project, ‘Microbial Hydroponics (Mi-Hy)’, that is making vertical farms more sustainable by incorporating microbial processes. They are funded by UKRI under the Horizon Europe Guarantee.
UWE Bristol are proud to launch a special series of the Changemaker podcast that shines a light on some of the incredible work our Black academics are doing to drive change.
The Changemaker Podcast Series is about highlighting work that is taking place across UWE Bristol to transform futures and drive positive impacts.
This special series features six of our Black academics that are each pioneering change in their research areas and teaching practice. The series celebrates each of these amazing academics and confronts a range of racial justice issues in the Higher Education sector.
The inspiring series covers a range of topics, including celebrating Black heritage and culture, and the importance of research that involves and benefits the wider community.
In each episode, we get to hear about the academic’s career so far and how they are creating positive & impactful change through their work.
The idea for this special podcast series came from Professor Emmanuel Adukwu who has previously championed the Black History Month Celebrating excellence booklet. Emmanuel features in one of the episodes.
“This podcast is a chance to really understand the wealth of brilliance our Black academics bring to the UWE Bristol community. These conversations are both inspiring and impactful.
Colleagues have shared their experiences with raw honesty, highlighting both their achievements and sadly the painful realities of racism they face. Their message is clear, and I fully support it: we must acknowledge the harm racism causes and take meaningful, sustained action to address it—both institutionally and personally. These conversations are challenging, but vital.
Passivity won’t suffice. We must actively commit to anti-racist practices and foster a culture of equity and racial justice. There is much to improve, and it’s on us to lead that change and be accountable. This podcast series is a clarion call, urging us to question, challenge, and transform ourselves, our institution, our sector and wider society. At UWE our evolving anti-racism strategy, along with new resources and actions, will be shared soon.”
We are incredibly grateful to Emmanuel, Amy, Angelina, Shawn, Ann and Malcom for giving up their time for this series. The collective sharing of their expertise has led to a truly unique podcast series, with each episode brilliant in its own right.
The first two episodes are available on the UWE Bristol Soundcloud page and the next episodes will be released weekly.
A team at UWE Bristol and Milbotix have won Innovate UK funding to deliver an initiative that seeks to re revolutionise dementia care with advanced wearable technology.
Dementia poses significant challenges globally. It often leads to communication difficulties, and people with dementia may become easily confused by new situations.
Milbotix is developing SmartSocks®, a family of sock-based wearable devices. SmartSocks® holds the potential to significantly improve dementia care by providing real-time insights into patients’ emotional states.
SmartSocks® has demonstrated capability within care homes to gather real-time actionable information enabling carers to rapidly build effective behaviour management strategies for people with dementia. For caregivers, a potential 75% reduction in time spent managing agitation is game changing, particularly considering difficulties social care is facing with care provision/staffing.
Milbotix now seeks to work with UWE Bristol to adapt SmartSocks® to allow the device to be used in healthcare. This will involve understanding differences in user-need (both for clinicians and patients) in a more acute setting. Currently, best practice is to manually record patient behaviour at set times of day. SmartSocks® can provide significantly more information at a lower cost. Data can be readily assimilated to allow better behaviour management plans to be put in place more rapidly.
The funding will help to deliver:
Participatory design with healthcare stakeholders. This phase involves engaging stakeholders such as people with dementia, family caregivers, and healthcare professionals. Through focus groups and co-design workshops, participants will identify challenges in dementia care and explore how SmartSocks® can address these issues effectively.
SmartSocks® pilot in a healthcare setting. A feasibility study will be conducted in an inpatient setting involving up to 10 dementia patients wearing SmartSocks® for four weeks. This study aims to assess the practicality and acceptance of SmartSocks® in an acute hospital setting.
Through stakeholder engagement, pilot studies, and robust project management, this project is poised to deliver tangible improvements in dementia care.
The SmartSocks®
Chief Executive Officer Dr Zeke Steer commented on the project:
“We’re very excited to be working with UWE Bristol to advance research and technological innovation for dementia. The original research on SmartSocks® was completed at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory on the UWE Bristol campus. I’m delighted Milbotix is returning to its roots to undertake this impactful project which will help us understand how SmartSocks® can be adapted for use in more acute settings where behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia are most prevalent.”
Dr Jac Fennell, Senior Lecturer in Product Design at UWE Bristol commented:
“We are delighted to contribute our co-design expertise to this project and engage directly with those at the heart of dementia care. SmartSocks® is a fantastic innovation, and through participatory design and collaboration, we can build on Milbotix’s success in addressing real-world challenges in meaningful and impactful ways.”
Dr Marcela Munera, Associate Professor in Assistive Robotics at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory said:
“Thanks to this funding opportunity, we can collaborate with the community to design innovative wearable technologies that support users and healthcare staff. The SmartSocks offer a non-invasive solution for physiological monitoring.”
UWE Bristol is excited to announce a new three-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with WASE Limited, funded by Innovate UK. A KTP is a unique collaboration between a business, a university, and an associate. It aims to create a positive commercial impact, enable transformational improvements, and drive innovation.
WASE provides their customers with decentralised, next-generation technology that converts wastewater and organic waste into energy (methane-rich biogas). Their services help clients reduce energy costs, shielding themselves from market volatility and lowering waste treatment costs. This is all achieved, whilst decreasing carbon impact through an enhanced local circular economy.
They currently support SMEs in food and beverage manufacturing and agriculture. Their direct sales team offers a Waste and Sustainable Energy as a Service (WASEaaS) model that requires no CAPEX for instant low-cost renewable energy. They also provide an ownership model with remote operation and maintenance support.
The KTP will create a machine learning-based soft sensing platform. This platform will be integrated within WASE’s Electro-Methanogenesis Reactor (EMR) to remotely optimise system performance. The system will help expand EMR technology, allowing customers to treat wastewater on-site while generating energy, reducing carbon emissions, and producing cleaner water and nutrients for use as fertilizers.
The project aims to develop game-changing improvements to the EMR technology by enhancing the system’s monitoring and adaptability. This will ensure minimal downtime and maximum value from the waste. The improvements will involve optimizing WASE’s industrial-scale system and improving predictive analytics in anaerobic digestion (AD). We will use feedback from microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) modules to enhance sensor accuracy.
If you would like to find out more about WASE’s next generation anaerobic digestion system and the novel machine learning biosensing, reach out to the team at WASE: Get in touch – WASE.
Will Gambier, Head of Science from WASE commented:
“We’re delighted to partner with UWE Bristol on this exciting Knowledge Transfer Partnership. This collaboration is an important opportunity to take our waste-to-energy solutions to the next level, combining our industry expertise with the University’s innovative research capabilities.
We see great potential in using data-driven insights to help our customers treat wastewater more effectively, generate clean energy, and support sustainability goals.”
KTPs integrate academic research into companies, to promote innovation and growth. The unique three-way collaboration between a business, a university and a graduate help businesses improve competitiveness and productivity.
In this blog post, we highlight some of the groundbreaking discoveries Black academics have made that have significantly advanced our understanding and capabilities in numerous areas.
Black History Month is a time to honour and celebrate the rich contributions of Black individuals to various fields, including innovation and research.
The theme for this Black History Month 2024 is Reclaiming Narratives and for us in Research, Business and Innovation that means celebrating Black heritage, culture and doing our best to highlight Black contributions to the world of research and innovation.
Research at UWE by Black Researchers
Below is an introduction to just some of our fantastic Black researchers based at the university:
Dr Tinkuma Edafioghor
Dr Tinkuma Edafioghor is a Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management, based within the Bristol Business School. Her research focusses on the relationship between HRM and organizational resilience, exploring key areas such as Talent Management, Employee Engagement and Well-being, Leadership and Change Management, Crisis Management and Response, and Strategic HRM Alignment. Tinkuma is currently working on a project titled “A Gender-role Perspective of Employee Well-being and Resilience,” funded by the VC Early Career Researcher Development Awards.
Dr Rachael Ununuma Chidugu-Ogborigbo is a Senior Lecturer in Biological Sciences in the School of Applied Sciences. Rachael’s research focuses on the biological effects of environmental contaminants at the molecular level, known as ecogenotoxicology. Rachael’s current projects include the exploration of novel extremozymes from marine sponges for application in Biotechnology; cloning of CYP1-like and CYP3-like genes in Sea sponges as potential biomarkers of organic pollutants; and assessment of organic pollutants in environmental matrixes from the Niger Delta.
Dr Amina Hamoud is a Lecturer in Systems Engineering, based within the School of Engineering. Her research interests include modelling and simulation for connected and autonomous vehicles systems and their verification and validation. Alongside her research and teaching duties, Amina is a keen volunteer and STEM Ambassador, providing mentorship to students from diverse backgrounds. She is a member of the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE-UK) and a member of the Women in Engineering Society. Last year, Amina was named as one of the top 50 Women in Engineering by the Women’s Engineering Society, a testament to her research as well as her advocacy work for black and ethnic minority groups.
Professor Shawn-Naphtali Sobers
Professor Shawn-Naphtali Sobersis Professor of Cultural Interdisciplinary Practice in CATE’s School of Arts. Shawn’s research has spanned a wide range of diverse topics, from the use of youth media in informal education, through to using media as an ethnographic research tool exploring subjects such as the legacy of the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved African people, through to disability issues and walking. His recent book ‘Black Everyday Lives, Material Culture and Narrative: Tings in de House’, published by Routledge (2023), explores British Black history through looking at the stories of objects found in Black British homes. His recent research, funded by the AHRC, explores the intra-cultural, religious, and political relationships between Britain, Ethiopia, and the Caribbean. This year, Shawn was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from the Arts University Bournemouth, in recognition of his unique contribution to the field of filmmaking, photography and writing.
Professor Emmanuel Adukwuis Professor of Applied Microbiology and Deputy Head of the School of Applied Sciences. His research focuses on strategies to reduce the burden of infections caused by antimicrobial-resistant pathogens, employing a range of experimental and public health approaches. In recognition of his outstanding teaching, Emmanuel was awarded the Royal Society of Biology Higher Education Bioscience Teacher of the Year in 2023. He was also elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, the society’s highest grade of membership, acknowledging his notable contributions to the advancement of biological sciences. Beyond his research, Emmanuel is committed to fostering diversity and inclusion within academia. He was previously nominated for a National Diversity Award, included in the Bristol BME 100, and continues to Chair the Africa Staff Network at UWE Bristol and an active member of the BME forum.
Contributions of Black British Academics
Black academics across the UK have made significant contributions and visionary achievements to various fields, often overcoming systemic barriers to achieve ground-breaking discoveries.
Here are a few notable examples:
Professor Dame Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu: A pioneering nurse and geneticist, Dame Nneka Anionwu made significant contributions to the understanding and treatment of sickle cell disease and became the first UK sickle cell nurse specialist. Anionwu received a Damehood in 2017 for her services to nursing and the NHS.
Dr Mark Richards:A physicist at Imperial College London, Dr Richards’ research focuses on using optics and spectroscopy for trace-gas quantification. He is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion in STEM fields and has dedicated his career to inspiring young people into physics through his science education, outreach, and public engagement activities. To support this, Dr Richards developed The Blackett Lab Family, a UK-wide network for Black physicists aiming to diversify perceptions of physics and promote Black representation at all levels in the field. These contributions have resulted in Dr Richards receiving the Institute of Physics’ Honorary Fellowship for his “inspiring contributions, advocacy and commitment to increasing equity in physics”.
Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock:A space scientist and science communicator, Dr Aderin-Pocock has worked on numerous projects, including the development of instruments for the James Webb Space Telescope. She is also known for her efforts to inspire young people, particularly girls and those from underrepresented backgrounds, to pursue careers in science. On the topic of racism, Dr Aderin-Pocock has said “I always think that when we acknowledge our biases, we grow… and become better people. It’s also important to show that we aren’t trying to pull others down. Rather, it’s about trying to make a level playing field for everyone.”
Professor Robert Mokaya:Professor Mokaya’s research focuses on porous carbons as sustainable energy materials. His work has significant implications for the development of more efficient and environmentally friendly energy solutions. Furthermore, his achievements have been pivotal in developing chemistry in Africa and in the Black community in the UK. At present, Professor Mokaya is the only Black Professor of Chemistry in the country. He has recently been elected as the future president of the Royal Society of Chemistry and will enter the role in 2026.
These pioneers, among many others, have made invaluable contributions to their respective fields. Their work continues to inspire and pave the way for future generations of researchers in the UK and further afield.
100 Black Women Professors NOW
The 100 Black Women Professors NOW initiative is a pioneering program aimed at increasing the number of Black women in the academic pipeline. Launched by the Women’s Higher Education Network (WHEN), this program addresses the significant underrepresentation of Black women in academia by providing career coaching, sponsorship, mentoring, and community building.
The programme is about supporting Black academic women to navigate and manage their careers; and it is also about challenging institutional assumptions and bias, recognising the need to address fundamental societal inequities, and acting to achieve systemic change for a fairer world. For this programme to work, a deep commitment is required from institutional leaders, line managers, and the academic cohort.
In 2018, there were 25 Black women professors in the UK, compared to 12,500 white men. As of April 2024, the number of Black women professors in the UK has increased to 66. While this is encouraging progress, Black women professors still represent the smallest group numerically among all professors, demonstrating that there is still a long way to go to achieve greater representation and equity in academia.
RBI’s Support for 100 Black Women Professors NOW
UWE Bristol is one of only eight universities actively participating in the 100 Black Women Professors NOW initiative, with active support from UWE’s Research, Business, and Innovation (RBI) department.
RBI is committed to fostering an inclusive environment that supports the career progression of Black women academics and is in close contact with the cohort identifying areas for development and support tailored to their needs. A mentor is assigned to each cohort member to support their research ambitions, offering guidance and practical support with bidding. A knowledge sharing programme has also been developed, with RBI colleagues attending cohort meetings to present on their roles and areas of expertise.
In the below spotlight, we meet Louis Aberdeen, Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Associate for Metrea.
Metrea Mission Data Limited and the Centre for Machine Vision (CMV) at UWE Bristol began their KTP together in October 2023. The KTP is developing unique software solutions that process telescopic images of objects in Low Earth Orbit to detect, track, image and categorise Resident Space Objects. The KTP will embed machine learning principles to allow autonomous detection and categorisation of space objects to provide essential data to clients. Metrea sought a partnership with CMV in order to utilise their extensive experience and expertise in employing state-of-the-art machine learning for complex image processing and feature recognition.
What attracted you to the position?
At the time I was searching for Data Analysis roles and was immediately drawn in by the title “Space Data Analyst” because what’s cooler than space. Initially I assumed I would be underqualified as I had only done a degree in mathematics. However, as I read the job description, I could see how I matched more and more of the requirements and this really excited me. Because of the nature of work the details of the job description were vague which just made me more interested. Space debris is a very serious problem and there aren’t enough cost-effective approaches to dealing with this, this project will take a step forward in this regard.
“I’m looking forward to when the work I have done makes a real impact on the Space Domain Awareness (SDA) system and contributes to the field of SDA”
How is the partnership between UWE Bristol and the company working?
The partnership between UWE Bristol and Metrea is really productive for both parties. The guidance and technical background of UWE Bristol and specifically the Centre for Machine Vision has been critical to the progress of the project and I’d especially give credit to Lyndon and Mark for their mentorship as I follow down this pathway. Metrea have the unique capability to capture imagery of objects in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and the opportunity to work on this project is only possible because of the hard work Metrea has done to develop this system. In particular I would like to highlight Chris and Ryan for their stewardship of the project and for giving me invaluable direction as I develop professionally.
“The benefits are that UWE Bristol are able to produce novel research in an area of study new to the CMV and that Metrea have access to the resources and expertise at the CMV to develop their SDA system.”
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I really love the variety of the work. The project encompasses so many different areas, machine learning, optical systems, signal processing, workflow optimisation, customer engagement, project management. The research is really enjoyable, the processes of working through a problem and experimenting with different approaches is very rewarding. I have a lot of work ahead of me but I’m excited to tackle it head on.
What do you think about the support available from UWE and the Company – give examples if you can
Thanks to Metrea and UWE Bristol’s support I have been able to take a course in video and image processing which has been instrumental in the progress of the project, inspiring a promising direction of study. I have attended serval conferences including the Farnborough air show and SPAICE hosted by ESA on using AI in space. These gave me a really great insight into the wider Space Domain Awareness business as well as modern reinforcement learning, and AI techniques being applied in the space domain. I learned how these trends will only continue to grow which is why it is so important to become knowledgeable.
I have also had many discussions with the academics at UWE Bristol in the CMV guiding me towards writing my first paper. The process of writing a good literature or abstract were very new to me and their expertise was really helpful.
Additionally, I am working with UWE Bristol and Metrea to use the KTP budget on a machine learning/development computer. As a part of this I consulted with many stake holders at UWE and within Metrea to determine the correct allocation of the money. UWE have a lot of experience with purchasing workstations for researchers, so their input was invaluable. Metrea’s IT department were very knowledgeable and knew how they wanted the workstation to be integrated within the wider IT system.
KTPs integrate academic research into companies, to promote innovation and growth. The unique three-way collaboration between a business, a university and a graduate help businesses improve competitiveness and productivity.
Professor Kieran McCartan, Professor of Criminology at UWE Bristol, was recently invited with the Council of Europe, by the Greek government to talk to the Ministry of Civil Protection about their approach to managing people convicted of a sexual offense in prison.
Kieran had worked on the recommendations on the assessment, treatment, and integration of people accused or convicted of a sexual offense for the Council of Europe. The Greek government wanted to talk through those recommendations as well as the research and evidence landscape across Europe.
The Council of Europe emphasized the need for risk assessment, treatment and proper management of sexual offenders based on a person-centered approach, evidence-based practice, and the involvement of multi disciplinary teams of professionals. Victims and community support, the role of Probation, the staff selection and training as well as the media and communications strategy to be followed, were also discussed.
The ultimate objective of the new prisons should be reintegration of the sexual offenders. To this end, Council of Europe will follow up the implementation of the two Ministerial Decisions for the designation of two sex-offenders’ only prisons and stands at the disposal of Greek authorities for further support in view of the European Court of Human Rights and other member States jurisprudence and practices, as well as the findings of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT).
An interdisciplinary team led by UWE Bristol will be competing at this years CYBATHLON in Zurich in October.
Around 80 international teams from the worlds of academia and industry will compete in a unique competition.
Senior Lecturer in Mechatronics & Researcher in Rehabilitation Robotics Dr Appolinaire C. Etoundi shares below information about the amazing work his team are doing for the competition:
The work:
Our project is part of a larger initiative focused on improving the quality of life for individuals with above-knee amputations. Our participation in the CYBATHLON competition is centred around the development of an advanced prosthetic leg that is designed to empower our pilot to excel in the Leg Prosthesis Race.
The core of our work lies in bio-inspired and user-centric prosthetic design, with a strong focus on optimising comfort, performance, and adaptability. Our device integrates cutting-edge technologies, such as advanced materials and adaptive mechanisms, to ensure stability, control, and speed during the race.
We are seeking to test and validate this technology at the CYBATHLON event, where we will demonstrate its feasibility, attract attention from potential collaborators, and foster interest from key players in the prosthetics industry.
“Our project is not just about creating a prosthetic device; it’s about pushing the boundaries of assistive technology and improving amputees’ daily lives. The CYBATHLON competition offers us a platform to showcase that we can make the impossible possible for the people who needs solutions today and also what’s possible when innovation and human-centred design come together.”
Dr Appolinaire Etoundi
The Team:
Our team, known as SPARK (Specialists in Prosthetic Advancements and Rehabilitation Kinetics), consists of engineers, designers, researchers, physiotherapists, and sport rehabilitation specialists. This diverse and multidisciplinary team, for which UWE Bristol leads the collaboration with two startup companies, allows us to take a holistic approach, blending engineering and technology with human physiology and biomechanics.
“By involving amputees in the design process, we’ve created a prosthetic solution that is more than just functional—it is life-changing.”
Dr Nic Brink, Part of the SPARK team
We believe our collaborative and agile methodology helps us address complex challenges and develop robust solutions for our pilot, Igor Burkovetskyy.
“As a pilot, I’m thrilled to be part of this project. The prosthetic leg developed by the team has given me a renewed sense of freedom and possibility. I’m excited to see what we can achieve together at CYBATHLON.”
Igor Burkovetskyy, SPARK team pilot
The Future:
Beyond CYBATHLON, our goal is to further refine our prosthetic technology and engage with leading prosthetic companies such as Ottobock and Össur for potential collaborations. We are also pursuing patent applications for several components, including the socket, bio-inspired knee joint, and ankle joint, to protect our innovations and generate revenue streams.
“Working on this project as a collaborator has been a deeply rewarding experience. Seeing how our technology can potentially transform lives is incredibly motivating.”
Tribonix Ltd and Rose Industries Ltd CEOs
Furthermore, we aim to advance our Technology Readiness Level (TRL) from 4 to 5, demonstrating the commercial potential of our prosthetic solutions. We will continue working closely with stakeholders to gather feedback and improve our designs, ensuring we meet real-world needs.
“CYBATHLON is an unparalleled opportunity to validate our work as a UWE multidisciplinary team in a real-world competitive setting, and we are thrilled to be part of it.”
The UK is facing a biodiversity crisis, driven in large part by habitat loss. In 2024, a new planning requirement was introduced in England that aims to address the habitat loss associated with development: Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG).
BNG requires development to result in positive gains for nature, not just in balancing the loss of valuable habitat. It does this by replacing or enhancing the habitats lost through development or by contributing to habitat creation and improvement elsewhere.
While the scheme is a fantastic opportunity to ensure development results in improving habitats in England, there are challenges in ensuring its delivery and enforcement and there are controversies over the methods employed to assess and deliver biodiversity net gain.
