"This new funding will safeguard Britain’s status as a world leader in life sciences and agricultural technology.”

Business secretary announces funding to keep Scotland and the UK at the forefront of bioscience

Business secretary Vince Cable has announced a £14.5 million boost that will help keep Scotland at the forefront of bioscience.

Dr Cable, who is visiting the University of Edinburgh today, Friday, October 3, will detail the announcement at the university's Roslin Institute where he is meeting researchers and students. The £14.5 million investment is to train postgraduate students in world-class bioscience to build on UK strengths in areas such as agriculture, food security, industrial biotechnology, bioenergy and bioscience for health, and is aimed at securing the future of the UK as a global leader in this type of research.

Highly skilled researchers are vital for addressing some of the world’s major challenges in the 21st century, with sustainable food production, renewable energy sources and addressing the health challenges of an ageing population among the issues to be tackled.

The investment will be £7.5 million from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, matched by £7 million funding committed by the universities involved in the East of Scotland Bioscience Doctoral Training Partnership (EASTBIO).

 
EASTBIO is partnership between the universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and St Andrews, led by the University of Edinburgh’s School of Biological Sciences, and including associate partners the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULSA), James Hutton Institute and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC).

Postgraduate students at Scottish universities are already making key discoveries including finding natural products that will reduce the use of antibiotics in the food chain, inventing novel crop protection strategies, developing new coatings for medical devices to repel infection-causing bacteria and exploring new approaches to study neurodegenerative diseases outside of the human brain.
 
Dr Cable said: “The UK punches far beyond its weight in science and innovation globally, which is a credit to our talented scientists and first-class universities. This new funding will safeguard Britain’s status as a world leader in life sciences and agricultural technology.”
 
Head of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, Professor David Gray said: “The University of Edinburgh’s world-leading position in the biosciences is underpinned by strategic commercial partnerships, maximising the impact from our research. This renewed investment in EASTBIO will enable us to continue training the research leaders of the future and secure Scotland’s place as a driver of international innovation.”

Image courtesy of the University of Edinburgh