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Research Councils and industry launch new club to support industrially-relevant research in bioprocessing
27 Jul 2005 -
A new club to bring together industry and the research community to support innovative industrially-relevant bioprocessing research and help the UK's bioscience and engineering base transfer knowledge to the bioprocessing sector hold its first meeting last week.The new Bioprocessing Research Industry Club (BRIC) will fund around ?10M of research in bioprocessing over the next 5 years with the research agenda being directed by a steering committee with equal academic and industry representation.
The club is backed by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and 16 companies and other interested organisations. BBSRC is contributing ?6M and EPSRC ?3M to the club with the companies making contributions depending on their size.
Dr Doug Yarrow, BBSRC Director of Corporate Science, said, "As well as funding the highest quality industrially-relevant research the BRIC provides a mechanism to ensure dissemination of results and encourage exchange of views between industry and academic groups."
Dr Lizzy Hylton, EPSRC Life Science Interface Programme Manager, said, "The research required by the UK bioscience base in this area demands a highly interdisciplinary approach, bringing together biosciences, physical sciences, mathematics and engineering. The Club will help to bring these disciplines together to work on scientific questions affecting the whole biotechnology industry."
Professor John Birch, Lonza Biopharmaceuticals Chief Scientific Officer and Chair of the Steering Group, said, "Enhanced research in bioprocessing will help develop the biomanufacturing approaches taken by the UK's world-leading pharmaceutical industry and biotechnology companies and encourage closer ties between industry and UK academia."
Management of the Club is being carried out by bioProcessUK, the Department of Trade and Industry-funded bioprocessing Knowledge Transfer Network.
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