Momentum Magazine Autumn 2020 ENG

Research news from Swansea University Issue 35 | Autumn 2020

MOMENTUM

CoronaDiaries: Living through a pandemic How has lockdown affected physical activity and wellbeing? Vaccines through microneedle skin patches

RISING TO REAL WORLD CHALLENGES

ON THE COVER

IN THIS ISSUE

One of the things that attracted me to Swansea was its commitment to producing research with real world impact. Joining the University this year, in the midst of the pandemic, I have seen our staff and students’ true innovative spirit and support for the local and wider community, demonstrating how our skills and research expertise combined with our compassion come together to make Swansea unique. The University’s ambition is matched by clear successes that can be measured in many ways including the last Research Excellence Framework (REF). The REF assesses the quality of research in UK higher education institutions every seven years. In 2014 we became a UK top 30 research intensive university. As a result of Covid-19, the timetable for REF2021 was paused for a period of four months earlier this year. It was a welcome hiatus, as many colleagues have had to juggle caring responsibilities with delivering their day job. Others in clinical roles were responding to the situation by going on to the front line. Many of our researchers have turned their hands to address significant and real research questions that have emerged during the pandemic. It is possible that some of this research may be included in our impact case studies and the additional time in the REF window will give us more time to follow the impact of our research. I am immensely grateful to the many colleagues who have continued to work hard on all aspects of the REF submission during this difficult time. In the face of extreme adversity this year, the volume of research funding secured from major funding bodies continues to remain buoyant - something we should be extremely proud of. In 2020 (19/20 academic year), Swansea University captured £68m in Research Funding Awards, representing an increase on the £62m captured in 18/19. Included

within this figure is funding for activity with a wide range of public, private and third sector organisations that will drive innovation and growth. This success led to us being named the most successful non- Russell Group University on capturing UKRI funding (Times Higher Education) 19/20, and is a tribute to our research excellence and tireless collaborative efforts across our research community, and the strong and continued support of our key stakeholders. As the media have reported for many months, the greatest challenge facing UK universities is financial, arising from the predicted effects of Covid-19 on international student recruitment. In fact, if I had been asked at the start of the year what challenges are facing the higher education sector, I would have given the same answer - but for different reasons. We have spent the last decades building deep and effective relationships with European partners. Though it looks increasingly unlikely we will be able to secure the same level of funding from Europe, we have capitalised on EU funding whilst it remains available, securing £17m in EU Funding Awards, up from £8m in 18/19, and since 2014, leading 22 European Funded Projects (Structural Funded) and supporting an additional 19, with a grant value of £133m. New funding streams are promised from Government to ensure we can emerge stronger and better placed to address the world’s challenges after Covid-19 and the Brexit transition period. The Welsh Government have also announced a major boost in R&D funding for Welsh organisations, which will now cover 75% of the project costs for Knowledge Transfer Partnerships to enhance industry performance and productivity through collaboration with UK universities. We will remain forward looking and ready to respond to calls for these funds - we have

Welcome to the Autumn 2020 issue of Momentum.

This edition of Momentum highlights particularly the contribution the University has made during the Covid-19 pandemic. The situation has required the best of innovative thinking and throughout the crisis, we have endeavoured to do what we have always done: responded to the needs of those we serve through research. We have been able to apply our knowledge in very specific ways. For example, knowing that their expertise could help support the NHS, staff and students in Swansea University’s College of Engineering began researching designs and specifications for 3D printing protective face visors; one of our solar tech labs temporarily switched to producing 5000 litres of hand sanitiser a week to address a chronic shortage of the product nationwide, and due to the extra urgency in the search for vaccines, and new ways of delivering them, a revolutionary new way to give vaccines through microneedle skin patches is being tested at Swansea University, thanks to £200,000 of EU funding announced by the Welsh Government. We have also been exploring the psychological and physical implications of the virus, researching the effects of social distancing and isolation on people’s mental health and emotional wellbeing, and participating in a new study to examine the effect of the UK Government’s lockdown strategy on the population’s physical activity levels. If Covid-19 has strengthened the sense that we are a global community, it has also strengthened our sense of community as a University, and demonstrated, in very tangible ways, why research is at the heart of everything we do. Momentum is produced by the Strategic Communications Department. Please contact Mari Hooson on +44 (0) 1792 513455 or email [email protected] for further information. ©Swansea University 2020 Swansea University is a registered charity. No. 1138342. For more details about Swansea University’s research:

already secured £20.8m of UK Government Funding in 2019/2020 up from £7.7m in 2018/2019 which is an encouraging and significant increase from a source we may become more reliant on as the Brexit transition phase draws to a close. Over the next five years, my vision is that we will further develop our academic research community, recruiting, developing and retaining talented people into our excellent research environment. Our researchers will be uniquely connected to people who use our research, locally, nationally and internationally and whose lives will be improved by the research that we do. Our ideas, expertise and people will be better known than they are now and will shape our world. To have joined the University at this extraordinary time has demonstrated to me that we are able to weather the toughest of times, yet still achieve so much. This is testament to our ability to innovate at speed and under pressure, and to the resilience and resourcefulness of all our people. I am immensely proud to be part of Swansea University and I look forward to working across our community as we enter our next century.

Sarah Aldridge is the alumni winner of Swansea University’s 2019 Research as Art competition. The entry was funded by the European Research Council and undertaken in collaboration with Dr Graziella Iossa, Lecturer in Zoology at the University of Lincoln. This image shows the intricately patterned, golden surface of an egg belonging to a winged animal. Sarah explained: “Though it may look like it could well belong to a dragon, this image’s diameter spans less than one millimetre across. This is a micrograph of a Wood Tiger Moth egg, and demonstrates the beauty, as well as the functionality of patterns such as these. The symmetrical pattern is thought to act as a funnel, channelling sperm towards the pores that lie at the centre of the rosette, influencing the success rate for fertilisation during mating.” Sarah is currently conducting postgraduate research externally at Lincoln University’s School of Life Sciences.

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Professor Helen Griffiths Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation

RESEARCH ICONS To illustrate Swansea University’s vast research portfolio, we have established a series of icons - graphical representations of our research areas which you will find at the top of the pages of this magazine. We currently have seven distinct areas of research with one icon for each, as follows:

RISING TO REAL WORLD CHALLENGES

NEWS ROUND-UP

HOW LOCKDOWN HAS AFFECTED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

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SUSTAINABLE FUTURES AND THE ENVIRONMENT

STEEL INNOVATION

DIGITAL FUTURES

JUSTICE AND EQUALITY

RESEARCH EXPERTISE SUPPORTS NHS WORKERS

£6M FOR NEXT-GENERATION SOLAR TECHNOLOGY

THE MILITARIZATION OF LANGUAGE DURING COVID-19

CULTURE COMMUNICATIONS AND HERITAGE

SMART MANUFACTURING

HEALTH INNOVATION

For more information on our research please see www.swansea.ac.uk/research/research-highlights

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UNDERSTANDING MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING NEEDS AFTER COVID Researchers behind a major new study charting how the people of Wales have coped with coronavirus are appealing for volunteers to share their experiences. The study, which is being led by Swansea University’s Professor Nicola Gray, is examining what impact coronavirus has had on the mental health and emotional wellbeing of the Welsh population. All seven health boards in Wales are working together on the project, which is called Wales Wellbeing. Professor Gray said: “This is a very important area of research that will help the NHS to track the wellbeing needs of the population over the different stages of the pandemic. Our findings from this, and the subsequent surveys, will be given to each health board as they become available. They can then use these findings - and the raw >Page 1 Page 2-3 Page 4-5 Page 6-7 Page 8-9 Page 10-11 Page 12-13 Page 14

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