At the end of September, Norwich Research Park hosted an important visit from the BBSRC Council (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council). This was the first time that the full BBSRC Council had visited the campus.
The visit aimed to increase the Council’s understanding of the role of the campus as a nationally significant research and innovation cluster and identify where BBSRC institutes, campus partners and regional stakeholders can work collectively to maximise opportunities.
Reflecting on the visit, James Briscoe, UKRI, BBSRC Council Chair and Senior Independent Member said, “I am grateful to everyone at Norwich Research Park for hosting BBSRC Council. It was a pleasure to meet researchers across the BBSRC institutes and to see at first hand the quality of their work. I came away excited by the science and by the ambitious plans to develop the campus and support the growth of biotech companies. These plans will help turn discoveries made in Norwich into benefits for the economy and society.”
The BBSRC is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and is the UK’s major public funder of world-leading bioscience research and innovation. Through its investments, it builds and supports a vibrant, dynamic and inclusive community which delivers ground-breaking discoveries and develops bio-based solutions that contribute to tackling global challenges. These include the need for sustainable food production, climate change and ageing populations. After holding its meeting at the Quadram Institute, members of the Council met with representatives of the research institutes, Anglia Innovation Partnership, the landowners Bullen and strategic property development partner Vengrove, and this included a tour of the campus.
As part of the tour, the Council took part in a groundbreaking ceremony, to mark the ‘start on site’ of the construction of the new state of the art glasshouses which are an important next stage in the £500m government investment in the total redevelopment of the John Innes Centre and The Sainsbury Laboratory known as the Next Generation Infrastructure project.
In the afternoon, Council representatives participated in a workshop chaired by Prof Anne Ferguson-Smith, BBSRC Executive Chair, to discuss the opportunities and challenges arising from devolution.
The workshop began with a presentation from Roz Bird, CEO, of Anglia Innovation Partnership, who outlined her plans for further development and growth of the campus ecosystem to support start-ups, high growth companies and multinationals.
Following Roz’s address, the workshop participants went into groups to discuss a number of key questions regarding the future of the campus.
The outputs from these discussions created a shared understanding of opportunities created by devolution and an agreement on prioritised actions.
Roz Bird said, “It was a real honour to be able to welcome the full BBSRC Council to our thriving campus and demonstrate just how much ground-breaking discovery science and new business activity is taking place. All the comments and feedback suggest that the visit was a great success, and I feel we are now in a very strong position to capitalise on whatever the future may have in store for us. Now that the BBSRC Council members have seen for themselves what we have to offer, I am sure Norwich Research Park will benefit from their support and advocacy in generating even more interest from researchers, entrepreneurs and investors.”
The BBSRC is a major funder of research at Norwich Research Park directly supporting the research being undertaken at the John Innes Center, Quadram Institute and Earlham Institute. Norwich Research Park is the only site in the UK with three BBSRC-funded research institutes which accounts for approximately 40% of its total annual strategic funding.
