The Glasgow Guardian looks at the University of Glasgow’s research power within virology, engineering, sustainability, and more.
The University of Glasgow is no stranger to achieving scientific and engineering breakthroughs and historical discoveries. Through the University of Glasgow’s continuous efforts in research and innovation, they have ended the 2024 calendar year with another display of its status as a top 100 Russell Group university.
December 2024 saw the university achieve 19th place in the QS World Sustainability Rankings, joint with Pennsylvania State University and Stanford University. Scoring an environmental research rating of 96.6 out of 100 and an overall score of 95.6 out of 100, the university climbed one place compared to the previous year.
This has been achieved through the university’s award-winning research which has worked towards combatting the energy poverty gap in Europe. The project, also known as EnCUENTA (Energy Divides in Europe: Closing Gaps in Understanding for Transformative Alleviation of Energy Poverty), has worked to address the worsening state of energy poverty through combating global environmental issues with improved policymaking.
Energy, or fuel, poverty refers to households whose incomes are disproportionate to the energy that is necessary to maintain a reasonable standard of living. This includes basic daily activities that require energy including heating and lighting. In 2022, the European Parliamentary Research Service found that over 41 million Europeans struggled with energy poverty.
Harriet Thomson, Professor of Energy, Sustainability and Inequality at the University of Glasgow, has been awarded by the European Research Council (ERC) for their breakthrough findings in the field of energy poverty. The ERC has subsequently funded €2.2m towards Professor Thomson’s efforts to tackle the widespread devastation that energy poverty generates.
The Hub for Quantum Enabled Position, Navigation & Timing (QEPNT), led by the University of Glasgow, has also been working to supply greater societal infrastructure and national security with advanced quantum technology. The Quantum Hub has been led by researchers from the Universities of Glasgow, Cambridge, Imperial College London, Bristol, Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt, Loughborough, Strathclyde, Queen’s University Belfast and the National Physical Laboratory.
The work of QEPNT has also been used in the development of GPS systems. The dependence of UK industries on GPS satellites, which are occasionally unreliable, has led researchers to seek a high-quality and low-cost alternative. This is being done through the use of atomic clocks and LiDAR sensors, which researchers at QEPNT hope will replace current GPS systems.
Director Professor David Cumming at UoG said: “QEPNT is an important addition to the National Quantum Technology Programme.”
“QEPNT will also facilitate industry and academic collaborations and provide skills and training to nurture the pipeline of the quantum leaders of tomorrow,” says Professor Doug Paul, QEPNT’s Principal Investigator
Delving into the university’s research into virology, groundbreaking work has been performed in researching our cells’ responses to viral infection. Published in the journal, Molecular Cell, this study led by the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, in collaboration with the Rosalind Franklin Institute, found cells that can cease their original assignments to fight off viruses.
The study reveals that U2 snRNPs, a protein team known to assist in the creation of new spliceosomal proteins, move into the cytoplasm in the presence of a virus. Having located a virus, the protein team redirects its priorities to delay the virus from spreading in the human body. Once defence against the virus is no longer necessary, the group of proteins returns to the nucleus and continues its original tasks. The RNA protein, therefore, may also play a crucial role in helping our bodies against replicating viruses.
To put it into perspective, Dr Wael Kamel, one of the authors involved in the study, compared the interaction between the U2 snRNP protein and a virus to a “traffic jam”. In halting the motion and movement of viral RNA, the virus is ultimately prevented from replicating any further whilst the infection is defeated in the process. The study attributes greater knowledge in examining the relationship between host and virus and will go towards treatments that combat viral infections.
In the archaeology department, research has uncovered a glimpse of governing institutions during the 4th millennium BC. Published in Antiquity, the journal discusses the results of the Shakhi Kora excavations, led by University of Glasgow’s Archeology Professor Claudia Glatz. The ancient Iraqi site is located on the west bank of the lower Sirwan/upper Diyala River.
The excavations at the Late Chalcolithic site support previous studies conducted into the origins of the world’s earliest forms of governance. Late centralised Chalcolithic institutions required their communities to provide them with manual labour and food. Research outlines the lack of physical evidence of indicators of man-caused destruction (such as a revolution), suggesting that this centralised institution was intentionally dismissed. This points to the decision of early societies rejecting hierarchies.
