July 2025: Claire Moulton-Brown, Thorunn Helgason and Sarah Reece from the School of Biological Sciences and Samantha Donnellan from Edinburgh Napier University have receieved funding awards from the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) as part of a £729k investment to enable innovative research across a range of academic disciplines. Grant recipients L-R: Dr Claire Moulton-Brown, Professor Thorunn Helgason, Professor Sarah Reece and Dr Samanthan Donnellan Boosting Scotland’s vibrant research sector The RSE’s Research Awards Programme runs twice a year in spring and autumn. The seed funding provided aims to support Scotland’s research sector by stimulating research in Scotland, and promoting international collaboration and nurturing promising talent.In this latest round, 72 research projects were selected and lead investigators at Scottish universities; however, the reach of these awards extends beyond Scotland, with collaborators representing 39 institutions in total, including international institutions in the USA, Australia, Italy, Rwanda, Germany, Portugal, and Brazil. Understanding how tree planting affects soil microbial communities This grant, led by Claire Moulton-Brown with collaboration from Thoruun Helgason and Sarah Reece (School of Biological Sciences) focusses on how tree planting may affect the soil microbial. Soils store more carbon than plant biomass and the atmosphere combined, but the impact of tree planting on soil organic carbon and microbial dynamics is increasingly contentious. The disruption to microbial functioning may conversely lead to a reduction in soil organic carbon and accelerate carbon cycling relative to storage. One major challenge is that we lack detailed, long-term data on how soil carbon stocks and microbial communities change during woodland restoration. This research will fill this gap by identifying the microbes and quantifying soil carbon in soil samples taken over three years from initial planting. My colleagues, Professor Thorunn Helgason, Professor Sarah Reece, and I are delighted to receive a prestigious RSE Small Grant Award. We are excited to investigate this unique, long-term dataset to understand key microbial changes linked to afforestation and their effect on soil organic carbon. Claire Moulton-Brown Lead investigator, School of Biological Sciences This project is a collaboration between the University of Edinburgh and Roamers wood, a community woodland developed by Sustainable West Linton and District. Claire’s project is a key aspect of the educational activities that Sustainable West Linton and District have made available at Roamers Wood. Local Primary School pupils, Scouts, and Cubs have all enjoyed taking part in Claire's “Soil my Pants” experiment, designed to investigate the activities of microbes in the soil. Professor Sarah Reece Collaborator, School of Biological Sciences New treatments to kill problematic bacterial biofilms Samanthan Donnellan from Edinburgh Napier University has also been awarded a small grant which will highlight potential new treatments to kill problematic bacterial biofilms.Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of microorganisms to become more or fully resistant to common medicines once used to treat them. AMR poses potentially the greatest threat to humanity. Exacerbating AMR is the presence of biofilms. Biofilms are 3D bacterial aggregates can adhere to surfaces and create a significant problem in clearing infections as they exhibit a 10-1,000-fold increase in drug resistance. New treatments are essential for treating biofilm-associated infections. We have produced a pilot series of compounds designed to attack multiple biological targets of drug-resistant microorganisms.In this study, researchers will test our compound’s efficacy in both preventing and clearing biofilms of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA, a bacterium causing deadly hospital-acquired infections). My colleague, Dr. Agnes Turnbull, and I are excited to receive a prestigious RSE Small Grant Award for 2025. As a chemist and a biologist, respectively, we bring complementary expertise to this collaborative project, which aims to make a meaningful contribution to the global fight against AMR. Samantha Donnellan Lecturer, School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University Related links Claire Moulton-BrownThoruun HelgasonSarah ReeceSchool of Biological SciencesSamantha DonnellanRoyal Society of EdinburghGrant announcement Publication date 23 Jul, 2025
