November saw EBIC’s first Independent Advisory Board (IAB) meeting, hosted on-site at Cranfield University. EBIC came together with the independent advisory board members for a two-day meeting to discuss the work so far and the exciting plans for the future.

An Introduction to the members of the IAB:

  • Prof Victor de Lorenzo, Centro Nacional de Biotechnologia, CSIC, Spain – (Chair of the IAB).
  • Dana Heldt, Knowledge transfer Manager, Synthetic Biology, Innovate UK Business Connect.
  • Prof Baojun Wang, Zhejiang University.
  • Liz Fletcher, Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBiOC).
  • Dr Peter Vale, Severn Trent Water Ltd, Asset Intelligence & Innovation.
  • Daniel Knight, Senior Programme, Manager (Earth, Energy and Land Use), Project Officer for EBIC, Natural Environment Research Council.

Over the course of the two days the team presented, discussed and facilitated fascinating insights into the work of EBIC and how best to accomplish the mission – Advancing the field of environmental biotechnology.

EBIC have successfully recruited an accomplished team of Early Career Researchers (ECR’s), with the IAB meeting providing them a valuable opportunity to meet the full EBIC team in person and introduce themselves to the IAB board. Time was also allocated for the ECR’s to meet with the IAB members to discuss career paths and research development – an incredible opportunity to share experiences and get advice.

One of the first tasks for the meeting was for each of the four Theme Leads to present an update on their work – with a focus on the priorities, short to long term objectives and key milestones. Breakout groups facilitated further discussions and opened very interesting lines of communications and sharing of ideas.

As well as Theme updates, the management and communications strategies were presented and discussed, ensuring the organisation can successfully and smoothly communicate goals – both internally and to stakeholders and the public as a whole. The room was filled with exciting ideas to bring to fruition over the coming weeks, months and years.

Day two began with insightful feedback from the IAB as well as strategic guidance on EBIC’s research mission.

This was followed up by discussions on our Pathways to Impact:

  • How to enhance collaborations with industry?
  • How to engage with policy makers and public stakeholders?
  • How to transform EBIC’s research innovations into commercial successes?

The IAB members and ECR were able to visit Cranfield’s Wastewater Treatment Facility to see (and smell!) the services on site and to discuss the research activities the resources both at Cranfield University, and those of the 10 partner Universities, can facilitate.

Key Points

The key takeaways for the EBIC team can be summarised as:

  1. Ensure the mission focuses on both societal benefit and commercialisation
  2. EBIC’s approach should be mission-orientated
  3. The board are pleased with EBIC’s responsible research and innovation initiatives & encourages full-team support
  4. Collaboration with other Hub’s is strongly encouraged
  5. EBIC’s strong focus on development and support for ECR’s should continue
  6. Reiteration of the importance of public support for the approaches of EBIC’s work
  7. Demonstrate success and showcase EBIC’s capabilities to tackle major challenges

What’s next for EBIC?