Katana VentraIP

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, is a non-departmental public body (NDPB), and is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience. It predominantly funds scientific research institutes and university research departments in the UK.

Abbreviation

BBSRC

1994 (from merger of 2 other organisations)

Non-departmental public body

Funding of UK biological and biotechnological science research

Polaris House,
North Star Avenue,
Swindon,
SN2 1UH

United Kingdom

Martin Humphries

Guy Poppy

BBSRC Council

AHRC, EPSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC, STFC, Innovate UK, Research England, UKSA

c. £498M

bbsrc.ukri.org

Purpose[edit]

Receiving its funding through the science budget of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), BBSRC's mission is to "promote and support, by any means, high-quality basic, strategic and applied research and related postgraduate training relating to the understanding and exploitation of biological systems".[1]

Structure[edit]

BBSRC's head office is at Polaris House [2] in Swindon - the same building as the other councils of UK Research and Innovation, AHRC EPSRC, ESRC, Innovate UK, MRC, NERC, Research England and STFC, as well as the UKSA. Funded by Government, BBSRC invested over £498 million in bioscience in 2017–18. BBSRC also manages the joint Research Councils' Office in Brussels – the UK Research Office (UKRO).

Sir (1994–1998)[4]

Alistair Grant

Dr Peter Doyle CBE (1998–2003)

Dr Peter Ringrose (2003–2009)

Prof Sir FRS (2009–2015)

Tom Blundell

Prof Sir (2015–present)[3]

Gordon Duff

BBSRC was created in 1994, merging the former Agricultural and Food Research Council (AFRC) and taking over the biological science activities of the former Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC).[3]


Chairs


Chief executives


Executive chairs

the development and implementation of the council's strategic plans

the competitiveness, relevance, economic impact, and societal considerations of the science and innovation activities funded by BBSRC

opportunities for partnership with national and international organisations

(BI) (Cambridge)

Babraham Institute

(EI) (formerly The Genome Analysis Centre) (Norwich)

Earlham Institute

The (IBERS), part of Aberystwyth University (Aberystwyth)

Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences

(JIC) (Norwich)

John Innes Centre

(Pirbright), formerly the Institute for Animal Health (IAH)

The Pirbright Institute

(Norwich), formerly the Institute of Food Research

Quadram Institute

The (RI) (Midlothian), part of the University of Edinburgh

Roslin Institute

(Harpenden and North Wyke)

Rothamsted Research

The council strategically funds eight research institutes in the UK, and a number of centres.[6]


They have strong links with business, industry and the wider community, and support policy development.


The institutes' research underpins key sectors of the UK economy such as agriculture, bioenergy, biotechnology, food and drink and pharmaceuticals. In addition, the institutes maintain unique research facilities of national importance.


Other research institutes have merged with each other or with local universities. Previous BBSRC (or AFRC) sponsored institutes include: