Nine innovative projects seed funded via a strategic partnership between the University of Liverpool and Canada's McMaster University are proving to be fruitful collaborations between researchers, industry partners and communities.
McMaster Vice-Provost for International Affairs Dr Bonny Ibhawoh visited the University earlier this month and met some of the Liverpool researchers involved, to learn about the opportunities the funding is providing for early career researchers, and the wider benefits for both sides of the Atlantic.
The areas funded are in areas of complementary research strength for the two Universities, both situated in port cities.
Dr Ibhawoh visited the Management School, where he met Liverpool researchers working with colleagues in Canada on transport decarbonisation for next generation ports and port-city hinterlands. The University of Liverpool's Dr Cagatay Iris said: "We are working to better understand the interaction between port areas and their hinterlands, and identify solutions to reduce emissions related to this. We find that researchers across our two institutions have complementary skills and knowledge."
Dr Yuanjun Feng, who is collaborating on a project to enhance environmental sustainability and resiliency of ports said: "This has provided a great opportunity to expand my research network. My McMaster partner and I are also collaborating with a third University, TU Delft, and we hope this synergy of diverse backgrounds will lead to long-term collaboration."
Dr Ibhawoh also met seed fund researchers from the School of Engineering, including Dr Anna Detkina who is working with McMaster colleagues on nuclear reactor design and safety analysis, including modelling and simulations for molten salt reactors. Anna is looking forward to visiting the McMaster campus which houses Canada's most powerful research reactor.
Engineering colleagues are also working around port-related themes, with Dr Haopeng Wang's collaborative project on sustainable and resilient pavement design for port areas having already identified common issues. Dr Wang and his colleague are now seeking funding opportunities to help them design and test solutions to these issues.
Materials design researcher Dr Ruoxiao Xie's joint project is investigating engineering perfusable vascular organoids for aging and chronic disease studies. Dr Xie and her McMaster colleague are seeking wider European and industrial collaborations to further their network in this area.
Liverpool's research collaboration with McMaster sets out to address global health challenges across life stages, from paediatrics to healthy ageing and resilience. Both institutions have particular strengths in ageing science and social science, and in health policy, health inequalities and regulation of healthcare. McMaster sits on Lake Ontario in the port city of Hamilton and there is common ground with Liverpool in the fields of supply logistics and minimising the carbon impact of port activity.
