Research philosophy
The Centre harmonises with Keele values. Carbohydrates offer a solution to global sustainability, ever more so as society and industry move away from petroleum derived raw materials; this links to Keele sustainability values. Additionally, carbohydrates play a central role in global health; the mRNA vaccine for COVID-19 contains carbohydrate components. The ambition of the Centre is to establish a world leading capability in Glycoscience at Keele, founded upon institutional values and culture.
Two core values underpin the Centre:
Research - the Centre is a focal point within the Faculty of Natural Sciences (particularly throgh Chemistry and Life Sciences) to encapsulate and develop current critical mass in interdisciplinary glycoscience research. It provides a framework to embellish research capability and give it external visibility. Centre members meet regularly to continually evolve new research ideas and strategies.
Training - legacy surrounding the Centre is key to its success and the training of future generations of glycoscientists, be they early career academic staff, Fellows, post-docs, PhD/Masters students, or technical support staff, is underpinning to this. A top-down training and skills model cascades through researcher levels and delivers a sustainable continuity for equipment and best practice training.