Joint Projects
Our group participates, with partners from Europe and the UK, in collaborative projects funded by the European Union’s Sixth Framework Programme and the Research Councils UK Basic Technology Research Programme:
SPANS – Single Particle Nanophotonic Switches
This is an EU FP6 ‘Specific Targeted Research Project’ (STREP) running from May 2006 to April 2009. Its aims are to study optical switching mechanisms based on single-particle phase transitions triggered by light or electron-beam excitation; to demonstrate new types of nanophotonic switches based on this principle; and to develop new techniques and tools for studying nanophotonic structures.
Our partners in this project are the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas in Madrid, Spain, and the Université Paris-Sud in Paris, France.
4G – 4 Billion Bases a Day
This is an RCUK Basic Technology project, the purpose of which is to develop an entirely new form of DNA sequencing with a throughput several orders of magnitude greater than current techniques. Ultimately, it aims to achieve the sequencing of 4 billion DNA bases in a single day, making individual genome sequencing a reality.
This project is a collaboration between the universities of Southampton, Edinburgh and Cambridge, and draws on the skills of scientists from a wide range of fields, including chemistry, biology, micro-fabrication, physics and computer science.