Electronics energised by handout

The centre will focus on a range of electronics areas

Glasgow University has won a £4.2m grant to create an electronics design centre to study high-tech sciences.

The centre will focus on subjects including nano-electronics and bio-electronics.

A spokesman said it would "recruit academics to deliver cutting-edge research".

The money is coming from the Engineering and Phyiscal Sciences Research Council, which is funding five major projects costing more than £19m.

Researchers will examine new systems emerging from the latest state-of-the-art breakthroughs.

Professor David Cumming, of Glasgow University's Electronics and Electrical Engineering Department, welcomed the grant.

'Promoting excellence'

"The research centre will address the increasing need to combine these diverse technologies for biomedical, environmental, safety and communications applications," he said.

"The centre will also promote excellence in teaching and research training in electronics design."

Roger McClure, head of the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council, added: "This initiative should help to counter potential decline in research capacity in key strategic disciplines in the UK of importance to the knowledge economy. Scotland is rightly part of this effort."

The University of Strathclyde has also been awarded a grant in the same programme.