• The UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has awarded £6.1m to Aston Institute for Membrane Excellence
• Other investors, including Science Card and Bruntwood SciTech, will provide a further £7.1m to fund the research and eventual company spinout
• The MEMetic project will develop game-changing biomimetic membrane technology for water treatment and resource recovery

Aston Institute for Membrane Excellence (AIME) has been awarded £6.1m in funding from the UK Government Department of Science, Industry and Technology (DSIT), with a further £7.1m in co-funding from partners including Science Card and Bruntwood SciTech.

The money will fund the MEMetic project, which will develop nature-inspired (biomimetic) polymer membranes for water filtration. MEMetic is being led by Professor Alan Goddard, from the School of Biosciences and AIME’s training and industry lead, and Dr Matt Derry, from the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnologies and AIME’s marketing and comms lead.

Separating molecules from water is a fundamental challenge across sectors, from wastewater treatment to blood dialysis. Current filtration technologies rely on sequential separation steps based on the properties of the molecules, sometimes up to a dozen. However, biology has evolved a solution to this, developing proteins that sit within membranes to selectively transport a specific molecule across it.

MEMetic embeds these specific biological transporters in sustainably produced plastic membranes to create bioinspired membranes capable of selectively removing a specific molecule, such as antibiotics, heavy metals and nutrients, from water in a single step. Additionally, MEMetic's membranes can concentrate the molecules of interest, making it perfect for recovering valuable resources from water, like phosphate and lithium. The technology could also, for example, be used in low-energy desalination or to remove toxic contaminants.

The government funding has been made through the Research Ventures Catalyst (RVC) programme, which was set up to provide funding to take truly novel ideas from concept to transformative technology. All awards must be at least equally fund matched with external investment.

The RVC award, and the match funding from partners including Science Card and Bruntwood SciTech, is integral to the development of MEMetic. The long-term investment allows the project team to recruit the diverse group of researchers required, from biologists to material scientists to engineers, to take the technology from the lab to industrial-scale membrane. Over the next seven years, the team aims to make Birmingham the hub of membrane research in the UK, underpinned by AIME.

The support offered by the funding partners varies. Bruntwood SciTech, the UK’s largest property provider dedicated to the growth of the science, tech and innovation sectors, will provide the spinout venture with state-of-the-art workspace as it expands, as well as access to its like-minded startup, scaleup and global business community already established in Birmingham and connections to more than 1,100 companies across the UK. Science Card, an e-money current account that uses profits to fund scientific research, will provide funding for science research and the technology platform.

Midlands Mindforge, a university-partnered patient capital investment company, co-founded by eight research-intensive universities in the Midlands, including Aston University, will offer skills support and advice.

The funding award for MEMetic builds on the success of the BIOMEM project, an international collaboration based on research from Professor Goddard, Dr Derry, Professor Roslyn Bill, Professor Paul Topham, Dr Alice Rothnie and Professor Brian Tighe. BIOMEM won a €3m European Innovation Council (EIC) Pathfinder grant in 2024.

Professor Goddard and Dr Derry said:

“MEMetic represents the culmination of years of planning a significant, challenging, interdisciplinary research programme which promises massive real-world benefits. This RVC award will allow us to leverage our fundamental science to create bespoke bioinspired filtration membranes for a range of industries. Such research really requires long term funding which is set up to take research to an applied setting and the research venture we envisage perfectly matches our philanthropic aims for water treatment for all.”

Dr Daniel Baeriswyl, founder and CEO at Science Card, said:

“Science Card is proud to be working directly with Aston University on their groundbreaking water filtration project - designed to improve water quality across the UK and beyond while also helping the NHS reduce waste and enabling advancements in battery recycling. By using your Science Card account, you’re empowering how money can improve your life, and create a longer, better future for you and your family - all on auto-pilot. Improving water quality is an essential part of this mission.”

Visit www.aston.ac.uk/research/aime/memetic for more information about the project.