Secretary of State for Trade and Industry visits UCL

Mr Darling was given a taste of the wide variety of activity at the university by UCL President and Provost, Professor Malcolm Grant, who led a tour round some of the facilities and research groups that have enabled interdisciplinary collaboration and practical applications.

Following lunch with some senior UCL researchers, Mr Darling was welcomed to the UCL Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research by its director, Professor Salvador Moncada, who provided an overview of the institute's innovative set-up as an interface between basic research, product development and the pharmaceutical industry.

Next stop was the recently opened London Centre for Nanotechnology, a joint venture between UCL and Imperial College London. Mr Darling was introduced to the centre's key activities in health care, information technology and environmental science and how the centre's collaborations have already provided fruitful results in diverse areas such as oil recovery, healthcare products and high-temperature electronics.

After a presentation from Professor Steven Currall, director of the UCL Centre for Enterprise and the Management of Innovation, the final stop of the tour was the fluidisation x-ray laboratory at the UCL Centre for CO2 Technology, where Mr Darling was keen to learn about Professor Stef Simon's award-winning advances in producing clean energy with zero carbon emissions.

Commenting on his impression of the day, Mr Darling said: "I am very impressed by the huge range of work being conducted at UCL, a lot of which will be transferable into commercial applications of huge benefit to the whole of the UK. UCL is certainly a centre of excellence in the heart of London."

To find out more, use the links at the top of this article

Image 1: Mr Darling at the London Centre for Nanotechnology

Image 2: Mr Darling and Dr Paola Lettieri in the UCL Centre for CO2 Technology

Image 3:Left to right: Mr Darling, Professor Salvador Moncada and Professor Grant in the UCL Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research

• Links: UCL Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research
• London Centre for Nanotechnology
• UCL Centre for Enterprise and the Management of Innovation
• UCL Centre for CO2 Technology