Category: EngBioCDT

University  of Bristol named AI University of the Year

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The University of Bristol picked up two prizes at the inaugural National AI Awards, including AI University of the Year, and the AI Award for High Tech & Telecom for the REASON Open Networks Project Initiative.

The BBI and the Engineering Biology Centre for Doctoral Training both featured in Bristol’s ‘AI University of the Year’ submission, which highlighted our research “using surrogate machine learning models to approximate the behaviour of complex mechanistic models to describe complex, interconnected, biological processes; creating new protein structures with higher success rates than have previously been achievable to date; and improving the quality and reusability of open source tools that can apply advanced statistical techniques when processing experimental data.”

Professor Annela Seddon (Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor of Research & Innovation for the Faculty of Science and Engineering) said: “We have a long history of AI research, innovation and education at the University of Bristol and we have always believed in the transformative power of AI to improve lives.”

BBI gives evidence to the Lords Science & Technology Committee

Posted on by wayne.powell

BBI Co-Director Dr Lucia Marucci gave evidence to the House of Lords Science & Technology Committee as part of their inquiry into engineering biology.

Lucia, Director of the EngBioCDT, spoke alongside Prof Tom Ellis (Imperial), following evidence from Prof Susan Rosser (Edinburgh), Prof Paul Freemont (Imperial) and Dr Carolina Grandellis (Earlham Institute). Evidence has also been given by Will Milligan, CEO of Bristol-based start up Extracellular.

The committee discussed timely opportunities presented by the confluence of advances in AI and modelling with bionics, some of the regulatory barriers to engineering biology innovations, and the scale up challenges faced by the UK’s engineering biology start ups.

The BBI and Policy Bristol will be submitting evidence to the Committee’s open call for evidence.

EPSRC and BBSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Engineering Biology

Posted on by wayne.powell

The Engineering Biology Centre for Doctoral Training (EngBioCDT) is one of nine new CDTs at the University of Bristol, which will equip and nurture engineering and science students, thanks to a nationally-leading £57 million funding boost from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and its Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Engineering biology is one of the five critical technologies predicted to deliver prosperity to the UK as highlighted in the Government’s National Vision for Engineering Biology (December 2023). Sitting at the confluence of Biology, Chemistry, Engineering, AI and Data Science, it has the potential to provide innovative solutions to global challenges for sustainable food, materials and chemicals, combatting climate change, and technologies for improved healthcare, by harnessing biology in new ways and creating biomimetic and engineered living systems capable of surpassing what is possible from single-discipline approaches.

The EngBioCDT, run jointly with the University of Oxford, will provide bespoke cohort-based training with a focus on how engineering biology concepts and technologies can be translated into products with real-world impact. It will include teaching on: modelling and control theory, artificial intelligence and machine learning, gene circuit design, protein design and engineering, and tissue engineering.

The EngBioCDT will train 68 students over five cohorts between 2024 and 2032 in collaboration with over 30 partners including industry, startups, innovation specialists, and national institutes.

 

The Director of the EngBioCDT, Dr Lucia Marucci, said: “I am so excited to start directing our new Engineering Biology Centre for Doctoral Training in partnership with the University of Oxford, and cannot wait to welcome our new students in September. Many thanks to the EPSRC and BBSRC for funding our programme.”

At Bristol, the CDT will be managed also by Prof Imre Berger, Dr Tom Gorochowski (Deputy Director), Prof Jen McManus and Prof Dek Woolfson.

Applications open for Engineering Biology CDT

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Deadline: 19 April 2024

https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research/engineering-biology/

Are you interested in how synthetic biology concepts and technologies can be translated into real-world impact?

Applications are now open for PhDs in Engineering Biology, as part of the EPSRC BBSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Engineering Biology (EngBioCDT), run jointly by the University of Bristol and the University of Oxford. It will provide bespoke cohort-based training with a focus on how synthetic biology concepts and technologies can be translated into products with real-world impact.

Society faces major global challenges including a need for sustainable food, materials and chemicals, solutions to combat climate change, and innovative technologies for improved healthcare. Engineering Biology (EngBio) is an emerging field at the confluence of the Biology, Chemistry, Engineering, AI and Data Science. It has the potential to provide innovative solutions to these challenges by harnessing biology in new ways and creating biomimetic and engineered living systems capable of surpassing what is possible from single-discipline approaches.

After training in the fundamentals of mathematics, biology, engineering and computing, and undertaking team-based problem-solving projects, you will complete two short research projects, one of which will develop into your substantive PhD project. Throughout the course, you will undertake bespoke training in innovation and commercialisation, responsible innovation, EDI and bioethics, and career development.

Each year, a summer school will take place in June/July which will include talks from engineering biology leaders, student pitches from innovation in engineering biology projects, and outreach projects.

Through close links with our industrial partners, and activities such as industrial placements, mentorship and translational training, the CDT will empower students to deliver EngBio solutions to real-world applications through skills and knowledge training.

Further info for applicants: