Bristol announced as partner for new £10 million UK Innovation and Knowledge Centre

Press release issued: 11 July 2013

A new £10 million Innovation and Knowledge Centre (IKC) that will boost the UK’s ability to translate the emerging field of synthetic biology into application and provide a bridge between academia and industry was announced today by David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science.

The IKC, named SynbiCITE, is a partnership between 17 universities, including the University of Bristol, and 13 industrial sponsors comprising the research arms of Microsoft, Shell and GlaxoSmithKline.

SynbiCITE is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research (BBSRC) and Technology Strategy Board. It will be based at Imperial College London and will receive initial grant funding of £5 million, with a further £5 million to be awarded over the next two years. The centre will serve as a national resource integrating university and industry-based research in synthetic biology into industrial process and products.

Dr Paul Race from the University of Bristol’s School of Biochemistry, who along with Professor Dek Woolfson from the Schools of Chemistry and Biochemistry was a co-applicant on the SynbiCITE bid, said “This is excellent news for the University of Bristol. The IKC will provide a mechanism by which researchers at Bristol will be able to translate cutting-edge synthetic biology discoveries into new products, tools and technologies of significant societal impact. This will benefit a range of sectors both regionally and nationally including human health, agriculture and food production, bioenergy and chemical production.”

David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science, who announced the funding at the SB6.0 Conference, said: “Synthetic biology has huge potential for our economy and society in so many areas, from life sciences to agriculture. But to realise this potential we need to ensure researchers and business work together. This new Innovation and Knowledge Centre will help advance scientific knowledge and turn cutting edge research into commercial success.”

Further information

1. Innovation and Knowledge Centres (IKCs)

Innovation and Knowledge Centres are centres of excellence with five years' funding to accelerate and promote business exploitation of an emerging research and technology field. Their key feature is a shared space and entrepreneurial environment, in which researchers, potential customers and skilled professionals from both academia and business can work side-by-side to scope applications, business models and routes to market.

EPSRC works with other research councils e.g. BBSRC and public sector funders such as the Technology Strategy Board to develop the interdisciplinary skills, infrastructure and research programmes needed to advance the field towards application for UK benefit, with due regard to ethical, social and regulatory considerations.

2. SynbiCITE

SynbiCITE is the seventh IKC with the aim of commercialising emerging technologies through creating early stage critical mass in an area of disruptive technology. IKCs are able to achieve this through their international quality research capability and access to companion technologies needed to commercialise research. Based in a university they are led by an expert entrepreneurial team. While continuing to advance the research agenda, they create impact by enhancing wealth generation of the businesses with which they work.

3. Synthetic biology

Synthetic biology is a nascent technology with the potential to be transformational in a large number of key application areas which address a diverse range of important socioeconomic challenges, e.g. Healthcare, Agriculture, Novel Materials, Bio-fuels/Energy, Bio-remediation/Clean Water, and Manufacturing.