UK universities receive millions in capital funding

The scheme is intended to facilitate internationally competitive, leading-edge biomedical research in a way that would not otherwise be possible. Building on our Capital Awards initiative launched in 2007, the new partnership with the Wolfson Foundation has awarded funding of between £3m and £5m to seven universities from across the UK. Professor Simon Duckett at the University of York has secured funding for the York Centre for Hyperpolarisation in MRI.

Hyperpolarisation enables imaging measurements that were previously impossible to be made in a few seconds. The Centre's ten-year programme of interdisciplinary work will turn this important scientific discovery into specific clinical applications. "World-class science needs to be supported by world-class infrastructure, which requires significant investment," said Sir Mark Walport, Director of the Trust. "The Capital Awards partnership between the Wellcome Trust and the Wolfson Foundation will provide an important injection of cash into our universities at a time when they face uncertainty about future capital funding."