New Research Centre to Open at Harwell

A major new £100 million investment by the government into a multi-disciplinary science and technology research centre at the Harwell Hub, was marked by partners, funders and academic representatives, gathered at Diamond and who were joined by Lord Prior of Brampton, Parliamentary Undersecretary of State at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

The new Rosalind Franklin Institute (RFI) – named in honour of the pioneering British scientist whose use of X-rays to study biological structures played a crucial role in the discovery of DNA’s ‘double helix’ structure by Francis Crick and James Watson – will bring together academic and industry researchers from across the UK to develop disruptive new technologies designed to tackle major challenges in health and life sciences, accelerate the discovery of new treatments for chronic diseases affecting millions of people around the world (such as dementia) and deliver new jobs and long-term growth to the local and UK economies. The development of the RFI has been led by Professor Ian Walmsley, FRS, from the University of Oxford and will be delivered and managed by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Business Secretary Greg Clark said: “The UK has always been a pioneer in the world of science, technology and medical research. It’s this excellence we want to continue to build on and why we made science and research a central part of our Industrial Strategy - strengthening links between research and industry, ensuring more home-grown innovation continues to benefit millions around the world.”

Professor Andrew Harrison, CEO at Diamond comments: “The RFI will develop new technologies designed to tackle major challenges in health and life sciences, and will have a strong synergy with Diamond’s interdisciplinary research programmes. It is named after the pioneering scientist who helped discover DNA using the same technique which underpins much of today’s experiments at the Diamond synchrotron.”

A key element to this success will be the close proximity to and collaborations with Diamond, the Central Laser Facility and Research Complex at Harwell which all have tremendous synergy with each other. Diamond’s two electron imaging centres (ePSIC and eBIC) will soon be the largest microscopy centre for biology and physical sciences globally, and together with the RFI, will form a key driver of life science research over the next decades.”