NBIC Annual Report 2019
Our Annual Report 2019 is available for download. The report covers our mission and vision, key achievements to date, our future plans for training, project case studies and all the Proof of Concept projects that we are funding.
Foreword – A few words from our CEO, Dr Mark Richardson
The National Biofilms Innovation Centre (NBIC) is an inclusive and open partnership of UK researchers and companies working collaboratively on our goal of harnessing the UK’s academic and industrial strengths in biofilm research to deliver economic and societal value to the UK.
I was heartened from day one that every university and company we met with felt just as passionately about making a difference in this field as we did and were keen to be collaborative wherever possible. Whenever we have asked for help, the community has supported us, be it in reviewing Proof of Concept (POC) applications, attending workshops, hosting our visits (and answering our naïve questions) or sitting on advisory boards and panels. Thank you.
NBIC ANNUAL REPORT 2019
In our first 18 months I have been mindful that we need to set up lean ways of working and focus our energies on delivering value to our community of researchers and industrial partners. I joined NBIC from a career in a regulated industry setting and I felt liberated in setting up a team and culture that was geared to easily connect and support the biofilm community. I’m very proud that through our accession process we now have 45 UK Research Institution members across the UK (plus strong international relationships in the US, Singapore and wider).
Through the work of our innovation team, we have an engaged network of over 100 companies from multiple sectors who have directly engaged with us in understanding unmet needs to inform our direction. Since June 2018, we have run two Proof of Concept project calls, funding a portfolio of 51 projects and investing a total of over £2m. We have also held two workshops with close to 200 attendees. In addition, through our BBSRC funding, we have now recruited 14 Interdisciplinary Research Fellows in our 4 core partners to help drive the scientific agenda. This is just the beginning, and we still have so much to deliver and innovate in our coming years (entrepreneurial training, scientific synergies, new businesses and future research leaders). Like any start-up, we now need to develop this continuing community support to demonstrate we can truly create lasting value and make a difference.
Publication date: 18/11/2019. Author: The National Biofilms Innovation Centre. https://doi.org/10.5258/biofilms/001