University of Glasgow

Brief overview

Founded in 1451, the University of Glasgow (UGLA) has a tradition of excellence as the UK’s fourth oldest university. It is a member of the elite Russell Group of leading UK research universities, a founding member of Universitas21, and of the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities. UGLA has been awarded an Athena SWAN Institutional Bronze Award. The Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation is committed to excellence in graduate and post-graduate teaching, and developing the next generation of researchers. Scientists and clinicians working together to promote and develop research, drug discovery, and improvements in patient care.

Research areas

Asthma/Epigenetics/Immunology/Infection/Interstitial lung disease

Host center eligibility

Global fellowships (return phase only)/European fellowships – in line with current status

Research infrastructure/facilities

The Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation offers the following facilities:

cytometry core with multicolour analysers and sorters;
state-of-the-art imaging platform including intravital imaging on live animals and lung-slides;
polyomics platform providing expertise from transcriptome to protein, metabolomics and bioinformatic analysis;
fully equipped animal facilities already running various models of respiratory infection and allergy including asthma;
expertise in respiratory air-liquid interface cultures using human airway cells;
collaborations with clinicians on human lung disease;
access to animal lung cancer models and relevant clinical samples via collaborations with the Cancer Research UK’s Beatson Institute.

Research funding/resources

Researchers will be encouraged to apply for internal funding, for example via The Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund, which preferentially supports early career researchers to generate preliminary findings for independent projects and/or develop novel methodologies to address their research questions. Grant writing skills are supported by individual supervisors and an established ECR network that includes relevant workshops. Research into respiratory infection is particularly supported via a dedicated cross-college network of investigators who meet monthly to share knowledge and resources.

Links to non-academic sector

Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation has established a large research collaboration with AstraZeneca in the area of respiratory immunology and inflammation medicine. The goal is to identify new pathways by which inflammation promotes disease, with a view to creating better medicines. AstraZeneca is supporting the GLAZgo Discovery Unit which is fully embedded within the Institute. The Institute has entered into a research collaboration with pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, that aims to discover and validate the next generation of drug targets for immunological diseases. The £4.6million research collaboration will work across four diseases, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibrosis and vasculitis.

Experience hosting international researchers, career development & training programmes, outreach activities

UGLA has participated in and coordinated numerous EU-funded Marie Curie Innovative Training Networks (ITNs), and research projects, with 27 MSCA ITNs, 42 MSCA IFs and 5 MSCA RISE projects currently running under Horizon 2020.. As an institution the UGLA is also committed to the implementation of the UK Concordat to Support the Career Development of researchers. Supervisors at UGLA receive supervisor training which is refreshed at least every five years. The international researcher will become an active member of the Institute seminar series, journal club and lab meetings and will develop his/her transferable skills through participation in the Career Development courses offered by the University’s Staff Development Service. Topics covered include: Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Successful Writing, Presentation skills, Assertiveness, Consultancy Skills, Project Management and Building effective research collaborations. The Institute is also strongly committed to outreach and science communication: https://www.gla.ac.uk/researchinstitutes/iii/newsevents/engagement/ourregularevents/

HR Excellence in Research – EU award

Yes