VIB is a research institute located in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. It was founded by the

Flemish government The Flemish Government ( nl, Vlaamse regering ) is the executive branch of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region of Belgium. It consists of a government cabinet, headed by the Minister-President and accountable to the Flemish Parliament, a ...

in 1995, and became a full-fledged institute on 1 January 1996. The main objective of VIB is to strengthen the excellence of Flemish life sciences research and to turn the results into new economic growth. VIB spends almost 80% of its budget on

research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...

activities, while almost 12% is spent on

technology transfer Technology transfer (TT), also called transfer of technology (TOT), is the process of transferring (disseminating) technology from the person or organization that owns or holds it to another person or organization, in an attempt to transform invent ...

activities and stimulating the creation of new businesses, in addition VIB spends approximately 2% on socio-economic activities. VIB is member of EU-LIFE, an alliance of leading life sciences research centres in Europe. The institute is led by Christine Durinx and Jérôme Van Biervliet.

Ajit Shetty Ajit, Baron Shetty is a Belgian businessman. He was chairman of the board of directors of Janssen Pharmaceutica, a pharmaceutical company and subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, with its headquarters in Beerse, Belgium. In February 2012 he retired ...

is chairman of the board of directors.

Goals

VIB's mission is ''to conduct frontline biomolecular research in life sciences for the benefit of scientific progress and the benefit of society''. The strategic goals of the VIB are: # Strategic basic research # Technology transfer policy to transfer the inventions to consumers and patients # Scientific information for the general public

Research Centers

The VIB scientist works on the normal and abnormal or pathological processes occurring in a cell, an organ and an organism (humans, plants, micro organisms). Instead of relocating scientists to a new campus, the VIB researchers work in research departments on six Flemish campuses: Ghent University, KU Leuven, University of Antwerp,

Vrije Universiteit Brussel The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) () is a Dutch and English-speaking research university located in Brussels, Belgium.The Vrije Universiteit Brussel is one of the five universities officially recognised by the Flemish Community, Flemish gov ...

IMEC Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (IMEC) is an international research & development organization, active in the fields of nanoelectronics and digital technologies, with headquarters in Belgium. Luc Van den hove has served as President and ...

and

Hasselt University Hasselt University (Dutch: ''Universiteit Hasselt or UHasselt'') is a public research university with campuses in Hasselt and Diepenbeek, Belgium. It has more than 6,700 students and 1,660 academic, administrative and technical staff (2022). The ...

. * Ghent University: **VIB Inflammation Research Center, UGent (Bart Lambrecht) **VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, UGent (

Dirk Inzé Dirk Inzé (born 19 October 1957) is a Belgium, Belgian molecular biologist and professor at Ghent University (Ghent, Belgium). In 2002, he succeeded Marc Zabeau as scientific director of the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology. His researc ...

) **VIB Medical Biotechnology Center, UGent (Nico Callewaert) **Institute of Plant Biotechnology Outreach (IPBO), UGent ( Marc Van Montagu) * KU Leuven: **VIB Center for Cancer Biology, KU Leuven (Scientific directors: Diether Lambrechts and Chris Marine) **VIB Center for Brain & Disease Research, KU Leuven (Scientific directors: Patrik Verstreken and Joris de Wit) **VIB Center for Microbiology, KU Leuven (Scientific director: Kevin Verstrepen) *IMEC Campus **NERF, a joint research initiative between IMEC, VIB and KU Leuven * University of Antwerp: **VIB Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Antwerp (Rosa Rademakers) **VIB Center for Molecular Neurology, University of Antwerp *

: **VIB Structural Biology Research Center, Vrije Universiteit Brussel ( Jan Steyaert) **VIB Laboratory Myeloid Cell Immunology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Jo Van Ginderachter) **VIB Nanobody Service Facility, Vrije Universiteit Brussel *Hasselt University Campus
VIB Laboratory of

Service facilities

VIB has established several core facilities focused on advanced technologies, which make high through-flow technologies available to academic and industrial researchers in Flanders. * VIB BioInformatics Training and Service facility * VIB Compound Screening service Facility, UGent * VIB Genetic Service Facility, University of Antwerp * VIB Nucleomics Core, KU Leuven * VIB Nanobody
Service Facility, Vrije Universiteit Brussel * VIB Protein Service Facility, UGent * VIB Proteomics Expertise Center, UGent * VIB Bio Imaging Core, UGent and KU Leuven * VIB Metabolomics Core, UGent

Spin-offs

VIB was involved in the creation of spin-offs from academic research groups, such as for Ablynx, DevGen, CropDesign, ActoGeniX, Pronota (formerly Peakadilly), Agrosavfe, Multiplicom, Q-biologicals, SoluCel, Aphea.Bio and Aelin Therapeutics.

References

Sources

* J. Comijn, P. Raeymaekers, A. Van Gysel, M. Veugelers, ''Today = Tomorrow : a tribute to life sciences research and innovation : 10 years of VIB'', Snoeck, 2006,
Biotechnology industry in Belgium

External links

Official website
{{authority control Bioinformatics organizations Biological research institutes Biology societies Education in Belgium Educational organisations based in Belgium Flanders Genetics organizations Gene banks Information technology organizations based in Europe International research institutes International scientific organizations based in Europe Medical and health organisations based in Belgium Molecular biology institutes Molecular biology organizations Scientific organisations based in Belgium Research institutes Research institutes in Belgium Science and technology in Belgium Science and technology in Europe Systems science institutes Vrije Universiteit Brussel