£1m boost for business access

DUNDEE'S two universities are to share in a £1 million funding boost to strengthen the links between Tayside's internationally renowned life sciences research institutes and businesses across Scotland.

Dundee University and Abertay University, together with the James Hutton Institute, the former Scottish Crop Research Institute, have been awarded 1,015,000 grant funding through the European Regional Development Fund to develop the "BioPortal" initiative to enable research institutes in the area to forge new partnerships with the Scottish life sciences industry.

The project aims to make cutting-edge research available to small and medium-sized businesses, which at the moment may be unable to access such information because of the expense involved.