The government's GBP70m investment in innovation centres in Norwich and Babraham, near Cambridge, will help to create exciting new companies and jobs based on world-leading bioscience.
This is according to the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), which already invests heavily in world-class research institutes at the sites.
This funding comes from an extra GBP100m for capital/infrastructure investment for science announced by the chancellor as part of the 2011 budget.
GBP44m will go to the Babraham Research Campus and GBP26m to the Norwich Research Park.
The funds will support the development of these sites and further strengthen them as UK science and innovation clusters.
On both sites there will be an expanded opportunity to drive economic growth through the creation and development of new companies and new jobs, as well as extending the impact of public investment on the society and economy of the regions and the UK.
In Babraham, funds will be invested in infrastructure and capital development to attract an anchor tenant; modernise existing facilities that are considered regional or national bioscience infrastructure; continue to deliver a highly specialist, skilled workforce across the region; support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from preliminary start-up through to emerging companies; and provide opportunities for visiting scientists to collaborate with researchers at the site with the support of short-term accommodation on-site.
At the Norwich Research Park, the focus will be on developing the site as a world-leading centre for environmental and life sciences with the aim of creating 5,000 new jobs over the next 10 years and attracting an anchor tenant.
Investment in infrastructure will make the park more attractive to prospective investors and partners, as well as attracting a world-class workforce, according to BBSRC.
There are also plans to expand existing incubator capacity to ensure sufficient office and research facilities for new SMEs coming onto the park.
These plans represent an important element of BBSRC's vision for UK bioscience in which curiosity-driven and strategic research feeds into, and benefits from, the proximity of translational and commercial ventures.
As well as facilitating the exchange of ideas and skills, the new centres will maximise value from public investment in bioscience research.
