UNIVERSITY researchers in York have been given more than £2.5 million for projects delving into subjects from cancer suppression to developing pipeless church organs.

The cash has been announced in the latest list of research grants from organisations including the European Commission, Yorkshire Cancer Research and the Medical Research Council.

More than £100,000 has been given to the Biology Department to fund three years of work studying ways of suppressing cancer tumours. Another £73,000 has been divided between York University and others in Manchester, Southampton and Leeds for a shared project to study the development of the early human embryo.

Professor David Howard, of York University's electronics department, has been given 20,000 euros from the European Commission for a two-year project to improve a computer system which could replace traditional church pipe organs.

The Bradford Computer Organ creates a very similar sound to the traditional instrument, but emits it through loudspeakers rather than pipes. It can be played through a typical organ keyboard, or plugged into a PC and programmed.

Dr Howard, himself an organist, said: "The system was invented about 15 years ago to synthesise the sounds of the pipe organ, and what we are looking at is how to improve the naturalness of the sounds. It already sounds very much like pipe music, but we are working to see if we can make it indistinguishable."

Dr Peter Bailey, of the psychology department, has gained nearly £140,000 for a three-year dyslexia project to look at the link between the way the sounds of words are received and problems in reading.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.