News
Peatlands project to tackle greenhouse gas emissions
A major new project has been launched to tackle greenhouse gas emissions from drained peatlands.
SRUC is the UK lead in the EU-funded Horizon Europe project 'Socio-Economic and Climate and Environmental Aspects of Paludiculture' (Paludi4all) – the productive use of wet and rewetted peatlands.
Edinburgh Science Festival's 2025 programme announced
This year’s Festival will explore the challenges of living on a planet with finite resources, through the lenses of science fiction and space exploration, with the theme Spaceship Earth.
Source: The Herald
Reintroducing wolves to Highlands could help native woodlands, says study
Researchers say the animals could keep red deer numbers under control, leading to storage of 1m tonnes of CO2.
Source: The Guardian
Red squirrels' low genetic diversity poses disease vulnerability
Worryingly low levels of genetic diversity make Scotland’s red squirrels especially vulnerable to disease, a study has shown.
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh said this could explain why the mammals are so slow to develop resistance to the squirrelpox virus, which is carried by non-native grey squirrels and fatal to reds.
Source: The National
Scotland’s Life Sciences Conference & Awards 2025: Uniting industry leaders to shape the future
Scotland’s thriving life sciences sector, a key driver of innovation and economic growth, is set to take centre stage in 2025 with the launch of Scotland’s Life Sciences Conference, sponsored by Moderna.
Source: The Scotsman
Moredun Nominated for Place-based Impact Award
Moredun has been shortlisted for the Place-based Impact Award at Interface’s 10th Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards for its role in the Scottish Government-funded Sheep Scab Control Programme on Lewis & Harris. This nomination recognises the project’s outstanding success in disease control through coordinated community collaboration.
Scottish biotechnology centre achieves 300 member milestone ahead of major event
Scotland’s Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) has seen its membership surge to more than 300 after welcoming around 100 new members to its network in 2024.
Industry leaders said the growth reflected the health of Scotland’s bio-economy, with start-ups Vaste and Seastex recently joining IBioIC and helping to push its network past the milestone figure.
Source: The Scotsman
Supporting women-led businesses is an ‘economic imperative’ – Forbes
Supporting women-led businesses is an “economic imperative”, Kate Forbes is expected to say in speech in Edinburgh today.
The Deputy First Minister is addressing a Pathways Pledge event – a gathering of organisations signed up to tech entrepreneur Ana Stewart’s Pathways Forward initiative, which aims to help remove barriers facing women in enterprise.
Source: Business Insider
Rhizocore Leads Innovative Project to Tackle Agricultural Pollution with Fungi Bio-Filters
Rhizocore Technologies Ltd has secured a £1 million Defra grant to advance a fungi-based bio-filtration system designed to mitigate agricultural water pollution.
In collaboration with The James Hutton Institute, Harper Adams University, and Cheshire Wildlife Trust, this initiative aims to deliver scalable, nature-based solutions for improving water quality.
New Scottish EDGE Awards to Help Drive Economic Change
Applications for round 25 of Scottish EDGE Awards will be accepted until the 27th February. The live final is scheduled for 9th May.
Scottish EDGE, the business funding competition, has joined forces with Techscaler and Scottish Enterprise to help drive economic change in Scotland with the introduction of two new awards.
Source: DIGIT