National Biofilms Innovation Centre

The University of Southampton will receive the award on behalf of the lead institutions of the NBIC consortium (University of Southampton, University of Liverpool, University of Nottingham and the University of Edinburgh). The University of Southampton will also be responsible for the disbursement of funds to the lead institutions of the NBIC consortium. The Grant Holder will be Jeremy Webb (Principle Investigator, Corresponding) on behalf of the NBIC Consortium lead investigators Jeremy Webb (Southampton), Rasmita Raval (Liverpool), Cait MacPhee (Edinburgh) and Miguel Camara (Nottingham)". Biofilms are central to some of the most urgent global challenges and exert considerable economic impact across industry sectors. They are a leading cause of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), forecast to cost $100tn in world GDP and 10m deaths by 2050. Biofilms are the major cause of chronic infections, costing the NHS £2bn p.a. Contamination, energy losses and damage by biofilms impact on the £70bn UK foods industry, the $2.8 trillion consumer products sector, and $117bn global coatings industry. Biofilm management is essential to deliver clean and globally sustainable drinking water and food security. The National Biofilms Innovation Centre (NBIC) will deliver a future where biofilms can be effectively controlled and harnessed, increasing value for the companies we work with, and providing pathways to impact for world-class research across the UK. NBIC will bring UK companies from across the industrial sectors around the table with the best of UK biofilm research to accelerate the adoption of new technologies into company products and services. Where companies are not ready to take an opportunity to market, we will provide world class entrepreneurial training to maximise the success of our spin outs NBIC will provide a focus for industry partners to access biofilm research across the UK, simplifying knowledge transfer and catalysing collaboration. Working with industry, NBIC will produce sector roadmaps, identifying the unmet needs of the sectors, and the key scientific, commercial, technical and regulatory barriers to meet them. The roadmaps will provide a key context for the evolution of the NBIC science strategy. NBIC will leverage existing investments in research, facilities and people to address near and long term industrial and societal challenges and to establish a pathway for the accelerated adoption of new biofilm innovations and technologies, whilst significantly promoting the expansion of a highly trained researcher workforce in this field. We will develop the next generation of leaders in biofilms with bespoke scientific, entrepreneurial and leadership training, and we will undertake International exchanges of students and staff with SCELSE biofilms centre in Singapore. We will engage with all of the university doctoral colleges with a view to submitting a bid to the 2019 DTP call. We will draw on the considerable outreach and engagement experience of the NBIC partners to share and develop tailored events and activities suitable for primary and secondary schools, CPD for teachers, science festivals, youth groups and community-based organisations throughout the UK.