In the last few years, researchers in EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa) have achieved some amazing things. A few notable breakthroughs that come to mind include the isolation of revolutionary material graphene; the development of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology; and the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project that captured the first-ever image of a black hole in 2019.
I believe these accomplishments point to the unique talent and collaborative spirit that exists within EMEA research. As a Senior Research Advocate at Oracle for Research, I have the privilege of helping EMEA researchers use Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) to accelerate and streamline their discoveries across a wide range of disciplines and ground-breaking projects. These case studies showcase the work of three brilliant EMEA researchers contributing to the domains of astrophysics, ecology, and computational biochemistry.
Dr. Vivien Raymond at Cardiff University analyses the collision of black holes, furthering Einstein’s legacy
When black holes collide, they produce the most violent events in the universe, shaking space and time and creating gravitational waves: ripples in the fabric of spacetime which propagate away at the speed of light. Dr Vivien Raymond’s research team at Cardiff University have been studying the collision and merging of black holes and neutron stars by analysing the gravitational-wave signals previously detected in 2015, plus the several tens of signals observed since then.
Chris Wyver at the University of Reading relaunches Fruitwatch.org to continue monitoring UK climate change
Recent research suggests that plants in the UK are flowering too early to achieve healthy pollination, and this discrepancy could have devastating environmental consequences. To study this phenomenon further, University of Reading researchers teamed up with Oracle for Research to launch FruitWatch.org in early 2022. Lead by PhD student Chris Wyver, this project enjoyed widespread media coverage, being featured in publications like The Guardian.
Dr Sofia Oliveira at the University of Bristol accelerates the study of proteins to help advance drug design and therapeutics
Dr Sofia Oliveira is an Oracle for Research fellow and currently a senior research associate at the University of Bristol School of Chemistry, UK. Sofia’s project aims to transform and accelerate the in-silico study of conformational and dynamic changes in proteins by using an innovative computational method named “dynamical-nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations.” This knowledge will bolster related drug discovery efforts and create new routes for the development of novel therapeutics to overcome addiction (e.g. nicotine, alcohol and other addictions), manage chronic pain, and treat cystic fibrosis.
Are you a researcher looking to harness the power of the cloud for your own research and analysis? Reach out to me directly at richard.pitts@oracle.com or apply for a project award and let us help you make the discoveries that change world.
