Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of

UK Research and Innovation UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom that directs research and innovation funding, funded through the science budget of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Str ...

, is a non-departmental public body (NDPB), and is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience. It predominantly funds

scientific Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

research institutes and

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

research departments in the UK.

Purpose

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".

Structure

BBSRC's head office is at Polaris House in Swindon - the same building as the other councils of

, AHRC

EPSRC The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is a British Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical sciences, mainly to univers ...

ESRC The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), formerly the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) funded by the UK government. ESRC provides fundi ...

Innovate UK Innovate UK is the United Kingdom's innovation agency, which provides money and support to organisations to make new products and services. It is a non-departmental public body operating at arm's length from the Government as part of the United ...

, MRC, NERC,

Research England Research England is a part of United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) that oversees the functions of UKRI in relation to university research and knowledge transfer in England. This includes: * providing funding to English universities for rese ...

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 Research Councils UK, sometimes known as RCUK, was a non-departmental public body which coordinated science policy in the United Kingdom from 2002 to 2018. It was an umbrella organisation that coordinated the seven separate research councils t ...

(UKRO).

History

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 The Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) and its predecessor the Science Research Council (SRC) were the UK agencies in charge of publicly funded scientific and engineering research activities, including astronomy, biotechnology and bi ...

(SERC). Chairs * Sir

Alistair Grant Sir Matthew Alistair Grant (6 March 1937 – 22 January 2001) was a British businessman. Life He was born in Haddington, East Lothian, the eldest of six children. His father was an RAF PE instructor and was initially educated at Knox Academy. ...

(1994-1998) * Dr Peter Doyle CBE (1998-2003) * Dr Peter Ringrose (2003-2009) * Prof Sir

Tom Blundell Sir Thomas Leon Blundell, (born 7 July 1942) is a British biochemist, structural biologist, and science administrator. He was a member of the team of Dorothy Hodgkin that solved in 1969 the first structure of a protein hormone, insulin. Blun ...

FRS (2009–2015) * Prof Sir

Gordon Duff Sir Gordon William Duff, (born 27 December 1947) is a British medical scientist and academic. He was Principal of St Hilda's College, Oxford, from 2014 to 2021. He was Lord Florey Professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of Sheffiel ...

(2015–present) Chief executives * Prof (now Sir)

FRS (1994 -1996) * Prof Ray Baker CBE (1996-2002) * Prof (now Dame)

Julia Goodfellow Dame Julia Mary Goodfellow (née Lansdall; born 1 July 1951) is a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kent, and Chair of the British Science Association. She was the president of Universities UK from 1 August 2015 until July 2017. Early ...

CBE (2002-2007) * Prof

Douglas Kell Douglas Bruce Kell (born 7 April 1953) is a British biochemist and Research Professor of Systems Biology in the Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology at the University of Liverpool, and Chief Scientific Officer oEpoch Biodesign ...

CBE (2008–2013) * Dr

Jackie Hunter Ann Jacqueline Hunter CBE FMedSci FBPharmacolS FRSB is a British scientist who is a board director of BenevolentAI. Hunter is also a visiting professor at St George's Hospital Medical School and Imperial College. She is Chair of the Trustee ...

CBE (from 21 October 2013) * Prof Melanie Welham FRSB (2016-2018) Executive chairs * Prof Melanie Welham FRSB (2018–present)

Governance and management

BBSRC is managed by the BBSRC Council consisting of a chair (from 2015, Professor Sir

), an executive chair (Professor Melanie Welham) and from ten to eighteen representatives from UK universities, government and industry. The council approves policies, strategy, budgets and major funding. A research panel provides expert advice which BBSRC Council draws upon in making decisions. The purpose of the research panel is to advise on: * 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

Boards, panels and committees

In addition to the council and the research panel, BBSRC has a series of other internal bodies for specific purposes. * Appointments Board * Remuneration Board * Strategy Advisory Panels - eight panels advise and report to the BBSRC Executive Chair * Research Committees - five committees award research grants in specific science areas

Institutes of BBSRC

The council strategically funds eight research institutes in the UK, and a number of centres
BBSRC: Institutes and centres
. 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. *

Babraham Institute The Babraham Institute is a life sciences research institution and a partner organisation of the University of Cambridge. The Babraham Institute is based on the Babraham Research Campus, partly occupying a former manor house, but also labora ...

(BI) (

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

) * Earlham Institute (EI) (formerly The Genome Analysis Centre) (

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

) * The

Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences The Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) is a department of Aberystwyth University within its Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, and is located in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales. It has a remit for teaching, research ...

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

John Innes Centre The John Innes Centre (JIC), located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, is an independent centre for research and training in plant and microbial science founded in 1910. It is a registered charity (No 223852) grant-aided by the Biotechnology and ...

(JIC) (

) * The Pirbright Institute (

Pirbright Pirbright ( ) is a village in Surrey, England. Pirbright is in the borough of Guildford and has a civil parish council covering the traditional boundaries of the area. Pirbright contains one buffered sub-locality, Stanford Common near the nati ...

), formerly the Institute for Animal Health (IAH) * Quadram Institute (

), formerly the Institute of Food Research * The

Roslin Institute The Roslin Institute is an animal sciences research institute at Easter Bush, Midlothian, Scotland, part of the University of Edinburgh, and is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. It is best known for creat ...

(RI) ( Midlothian), part of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

Rothamsted Research Rothamsted Research, previously known as the Rothamsted Experimental Station and then the Institute of Arable Crops Research, is one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world, having been founded in 1843. It is located at Harp ...

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

Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes can ...

(IGER - Aberystwyth), merged with the University of Aberystwyth 2008 *

Letcombe Laboratory The Letcombe Laboratory was located at Letcombe Regis, Oxfordshire, UK and began life in 1957 as the Agricultural Research Council Radiobiological Laboratory investigating contamination of land and food by radioactive substances, especially stronti ...

Long Ashton Research Station Long Ashton Research Station (LARS) was an agricultural and horticultural government-funded research centre located in the village of Long Ashton near Bristol, UK. It was created in 1903 to study and improve the West Country cider industry and ...

(LARS -

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

) * the Plant Breeding Institute (PBI -

) * the Weed Research Organisation (WRO -

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

) * Silsoe Research Institute (SRI -

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

) was closed in 2006.

References

{{Authority control Biological research institutes in the United Kingdom Biology education in the United Kingdom Biotechnology in the United Kingdom Biotechnology organizations Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Government agencies established in 1994 Life sciences industry Non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government Organisations based in Swindon Organizations established in 1994 Research councils Research institutes in the United Kingdom Science and technology in the United Kingdom 1994 establishments in the United Kingdom