Research institute focuses on future of innovation in life sciences and international development

5 June 2018

This year’s Innogen Institute annual meeting took place at The Open University 22-23 May.

The Institute was established in 2013, following 10 years of ESRC-funded research collaboration between the University of Edinburgh and The Open University in public policy and innovation related debates on the social and political aspects of the new life sciences.

The meeting marked the move of the Institute’s Directorship from the University of Edinburgh to The Open University and its purpose was threefold: to learn from successful bidding practices of the past; to review current projects; and to identify future research areas.

Over the period of 2002 – 2018, Innogen received £7M core funding from the ESRC, £3M in institutional support, and more than £14M in external funding for more than 140 projects with international collaborations in 30 countries, resulting in over 900 publications, over 200 media reports and 400 knowledge facilitation activities.

Building on these successes, the Innogen Institute is now using an evolving conceptual framework (a triangle of innovators/scientists, regulators/state and publics/citizens) to understand technological innovation and is developing new methods and approaches to match the opportunities arising from new scientific discoveries across an expanding array of advanced innovative technologies.

The overall aim is to produce and disseminate high quality REFable research to support the delivery of innovative impacts that are profitable, safe and societally useful, nationally and internationally, building on fundamental and applied research in science, medicine, engineering and social science.

To achieve this ambitious aim, future research projects and public events will focus on areas such the role of standards and regulations in new life science technologies, the impact of big data and blockchain technologies on food and health security, and local production of pharmaceuticals in developing countries. The annual meeting developed a concrete plan for bidding for external funding in these areas and organising workshops and conferences.

If you would like to know more about the Innogen Institute and its current and future projects, you can visit the website and follow on Twitter.

Theo Papaioannou
Professor of Politics, Innovation and Development
Member of Innogen Institute