We are celebrating a milestone in our collaboration with the Wolfson Foundation as Paul Ramsbottom, the Foundation's chief executive, visits us to mark the opening of the Centre for Crop Improvement Technology.
This state-of-the-art facility, funded by a generous £1 million grant from the Wolfson Foundation, represents a new phase of our world-class research in plant science.
The centre's advanced laboratories and plant growth rooms are designed to tackle urgent global challenges such as climate resilience, food security, and sustainable agriculture.
The Centre for Crop Improvement Technology places Durham University at the forefront of crop research innovation.
By enhancing crop productivity and resilience, the centre’s work aims to directly combat the impacts of climate change on agriculture.
Key facilities include upgraded glasshouses and a newly established tissue culture and gene editing suite, which together enable advanced experimentation and research into creating climate-smart crops and more sustainable soil systems.
Caption: Professor Karen O'Brien, Vice-Chancellor and Warden of Durham University, and Paul Ramsbottom OBE, Wolfson Foundation, pictured while on a recent tour of the new facilities.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Wolfson Foundation's relationship with Durham University.
Since 1973, the Foundation has awarded grants to numerous pioneering projects across the University, from supporting our historic buildings to establishing institutes dedicated to fundamental sciences and health.
In 2013, Wolfson funding supported the Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics, a project that advances cutting-edge research in cosmology.
The Foundation’s funding also facilitated the establishment of the Wolfson Laboratories, providing state-of-the-art facilities where leading researchers in physical and biosciences collaborate to tackle the major challenges of the 21st century.
The Wolfson laboratories were instrumental in supporting members of the Biophysical Sciences Institute in obtaining significant funding, as demonstrated by initiatives such as the Physics for Life Network (2013), the Horizon 2020 Virus-X consortium (2016–2020), the MRC GCRF Global Network on Neglected Tropical Diseases (2017–2022), and the BBSRC Frontier Biosciences Strategic Longer and Larger grant on Decoding the SUMO code for Plant Adaptive Responses (2021-2026).
The Wolfson Foundation’s support has been transformative for us and this partnership exemplifies our shared vision of fostering research that makes a lasting impact on society.
Our Department of Biosciences is a leading centre for this increasingly important area of study and is ranked 5th in The Complete University Guide 2024. Students develop a wide range of analytical and practical skills that prepare them to meet these challenges we face across the globe including food security, sustainability and the impact of climate change.
Feeling inspired? Visit our Biosciences webpages to learn more about our postgraduate and undergraduate programmes.
Top header image caption (left to right): Dr Adrian Watson, Senior Technical Manager - Biosciences, Sophie Steel, Wolfson Foundation, Dr Ulrike Bechtold, Associate Professor - Biosciences, Professor Karen O’Brien, Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stefan Przyborski, Professor (Biosciences) and Deputy Provost, Paul Ramsbottom OBE, Wolfson Foundation, and Dr Jonathan Smith, Senior Construction Project Manager - Estates and Facilities
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