The BBSRC Network in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy (NIBB) PHYCONET, led by Saul Purton (UCL, ex-BPS Council and member of the BPS Algal Applications Committee) and Michele Stanley (SAMS), held its final Annual Conference in London 8-9 November. The 75 delegates heard presentations from awardees of the PHYCONET Proof of Concept, Business Interaction Vouchers and IB Seeding Catalyst funding schemes.
Huge congratulations to Saul Purton on the success of the application “Algae-UK: Exploiting the algal treasure trove” to the phase II BBSRC NIBB – he is Director and Michele Stanley (SAMS), Pat Harvey (University of Greenwich) and Anna Amtmann (University of Glasgow) are Co-Directors. The project starts in early 2019.
The scope is broader than that of PHYCONET in including microalgae and seaweeds, so this brings an even more substantial overlap with the BPS. We look forward to working with Saul and colleagues for the benefit of applied phycology research in the UK. Aside from funding schemes (yet to be revealed) there will be potential opportunities for joint BPS and Algae-UK meetings and special sessions at future BPS Annual Meeting.
Algae-UK is one of six NIBBs. The BBSRC, with the support from EPSRC, has committed a total of £11M funding to these networks. More information is available via https://bbsrc.ukri.org/news/industrial-biotechnology/2018/181108-pr-11m-to-fund-industrial-biotechnology-and-bioenergy-networks-announced/ and on the PHYCONET website http://www.phyconet.org.uk/news.
The Algae-UK website is coming soon.
