A UNIVERSITY of Bolton researcher has received a prestigious award.

Dr Tao Sun has been given the Newton Research Collaboration Award to further his work in the growing world of tissue engineering.

Dr Sun, who works at the university's Institute for Materials Research and Innovation department, received the accolade from the Royal Academy of Engineering.

The awards are designed to helps academics from the UK and other countries to discuss their findings to further their research in certain areas.

In general, tissue engineering refers to the use of cells, engineering materials, and biochemical factors and how they can improve or replace biological functions.

Dr Sun applied for the award based on his work in developing computational models for skin tissue engineering.

He was working alongside biophysics lecturer, Dr Mark Pogson, and their team of experts.

Dr Sun said: "I’m very excited to be the recipient of this award. With so much competition in research on Tissue Engineering, I wasn’t expecting to win.

"It’s a confirmation of our work, which was based purely on research interest. It’s reassuring that we’ve gained recognition in our field."

The accolade comes as the University of Bolton was recently recognised as producing world leading research.

Dr Sun will now spend three months at The Beijing Institute of Transfusion Medicine in China which is also working in the same field.

He will introduce his model to help take research to an experimental level.

The knowledge exchange is designed to close the gap in research at both institutions, and Dr Sun hopes the collaboration will encourage and provide opportunities for students in China to come to the University of Bolton.

Dr Sun has received support from the University of Bolton, particularly the Provost of Research and Academic Development, Professor Elias Siores, and the Systems Biology team as well as Dr Chung Kwok, a local collaborator from the Royal Bolton Hospital.