The Royal Society has presented a prestigious award to two leading University academics.

Professor Muffy Calder, of the School of Computing Science, and Professor David Cumming, of the School of Engineering, have each received the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award.

The scheme, jointly funded by the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of science, and the Wolfson Foundation, provides universities with additional financial support to enable them to retain respected scientists of outstanding achievement and potential.

Prof Calder’s research examines ways in which computing and biochemical systems can be mathematically modelled to accurately predict the effect of changes such as the addition, removal or updating of a component or changing the environment in which it works.

Prof Calder said: “I’m very pleased to receive the Wolfson Merit Research Award from the Royal Society.

“The long-term goals for my research include the creation of models which contribute to better software, drug discovery and artefact fabrication and the creation of truly ‘plug-and-play’ computational systems, which do exactly what we want and consume resources predictably.”

Prof Cumming’s research focuses on how the growing fields of nanophotonics and terahertz technology can be put to practical use through ‘metamaterials’. Metamaterials, which do not exist in nature, allow light to be manipulated and controlled.

Prof Cumming said: “Some of the practical applications of my research could include the creation of handheld imaging devices to allow doctors to screen for skin cancers or security guards to search more easily for concealed objects. My work could also lead to the development of ‘supereyes’, optics which allow the creation of colour images which go beyond the visible spectrum of red, green and blue to use all the colours of the rainbow including terahertz, with applications in health, entertainment and safety.

“This is an exciting time to be involved in engineering research and the Wolfson Research Merit Award will be very helpful in allowing me to extend the cutting-edge work already underway at the University of Glasgow.”

A total of 26 UK academics received the award in this round of funding.

First published: 16 September 2011

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