The Centre for Glycosciences launch event

Original video: https://youtu.be/mBBg2OkMVjM

It's been about six years since the establishment of the center. Some colleagues and I noticed a homegrown research interest in glycoscience. We set up the center to foster and develop collaborative mutual interest in glycoscience research. The second aim of the center is to train the next generations of glycoscientists, including PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, and master's level researchers. It serves a dual purpose—to advance research capability in glycoscience at Keele, developing a national portfolio in that area, and to offer dedicated training in glycoscience.

All members of the center have trained in famous labs worldwide, and we aim to build our own heritage. Not everyone will remain academics and scientists forever, so it's crucial to focus on training the next generations. We want to influence and train them so that they retain their interest in glycoscience research and foster their own scientific discoveries. This is why the center's existence is vital, especially since a glycoscience training center did not exist in my day. We want it to be available for the next generations.

Recently, we achieved grant success with the EPSRC New Horizon scheme. Three principal investigators within the center secured those grants. I've also been a co-investigator on a nucleic acid therapeutic manufacturing grant with the University of Manchester. The center has already seen several recipients of grants, and we aim to build on this foundation moving forward.