The Santander Mobility Awards are available for University of Sheffield researchers and research students who wish to carry out collaborative research with colleagues from a Santander Universities partner. It is essentially a Knowledge Exchange grant, to establish new collaborations or strengthen existing ones; it is not a project grant.
Aban explains, “During my post at MultiSim, I have developed a novel computational model (CoM) which examining the dynamic interaction between the cell and extracellular environment (ECM). The model shed light on this relationship and connected elements of mechanosensation and mechanotransduction together. Nonetheless, the model requires validation via wet-lab experiments. Therefore, I communicated with several European research groups to explore visits and potential cooperation to co-design and execute validation experiments (short term aim) and, if needed, to collaborate to write a joint grant which will lead to extensive CoM validation (long term aim).
One of these groups was the Cellular and Molecular Mechanobiology Lab in the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC). Consequently, I have applied for the Santander Mobility Awards to visit CMML group for three weeks to initiate and establish these links, in addition to plan future experiments with the group members. I was fortunate to have been awarded this grant to build bridges with the group.
"During the visit, I interacted with lab members over experimental set-ups and designs, some of these are providing the spine for experiments and measures in a research proposal I am writing with the CMML group leader (Pere Roca-Cusachs Souler) and collaborators at McGill University (see our previous news story). The Santander Mobility Awards will allow me to host a reciprocal visit by a member of CMML. We are arranging for this visit after May 2019, so watch this space!”
