The UK’s world-class expertise in the research of biofilms has been recognised through the launch of a new National Biofilms Innovation Centre (NBIC) to be led by the University.
The Centre will be supported by a commitment of £26m over the next five years, including £12.5m funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Innovate UK, with additional support from universities and industry. The NBIC will also bring the best of UK biofilm research together with UK companies from across the industrial sectors to accelerate the adoption of new technologies into live products and services as part of a global industry worth $5 trillion.
Microbial biofilm research is a feature of many scientific disciplines across the University, the lead research organisation of the centre. Southampton boasts the largest grouping of biofilm academics in the UK and is unique in its ability to consider biofilms in an integrated way across a range of research areas. These include biological sciences, medicine, chemistry, computational modelling, engineering and ocean science creating impact across diverse fields of application, from medicine to industry to the environment.
The University is also home to the interdisciplinary Network for Anti-Microbial Resistance and Infection Prevention (NAMRIP) which is focused on combatting the increasing resistance that microbes display to countermeasures like antibiotics – one of the major themes of the NBIC.
“This new National Biofilms Innovation Centre is poised to create a fusion of world-class interdisciplinary research and industry partnerships to deliver breakthrough science and technologies to control and exploit biofilms,” said Professor of Microbiology Jeremy Webb, Principal Investigator and Co-Director for NBIC.
Read our full press release here.
