How IBioIC’s Bioprocessing Scale-up facilities are still able to offer support during lockdown
The SARS-Cov-2 pandemic has meant that the IBioIC’s Bioprocessing Scale-up centres at both Heriot-Watt university and the University of Strathclyde have had to close temporarily. The technical staff have been working from home and are looking forward to returning in the future to restart curtailed projects and undertake new opportunities. We have regular updates with our clients to allow any work that can be done remotely to be progressed in preparation for reopening.
There has been a steady stream of interest in performing new projects in the centres during the lockdown, ranging from short-term fermentation projects to commence when we re-start, through to large multi-organisation funding bids for longer term projects in 2021/22. This has been further helped by the re-launch of the IBioIC Scale-up Accelerator funding grant for 2020. We have increased the total project value that we can now support, with a matched 50% grant (total direct project costs of £30k can now be supported up to £15k). This is in addition to other funding that we continue to promote through our network.
In the year prior, we have had a lot of success in hosting practical training courses on upstream and downstream processing. Working remotely has allowed the team to develop content for future training courses which we hope to host in future when restrictions allow this to be practical and safe.
Opportunities for technical outreach have continued in lockdown, with the successful hosting the 8th Scottish Fermentation Network (SFN) earlier this month. Excellent talks from IBioIC members Oceanium, MiAlgae and Pennotec were well received by the virtual audience with plenty of questions from the 60+ attendees. The event was finished with a virtual sensory beer tasting headed by Assistant Professor Rachel Sutherland (Heriot-Watt University) with attendees able to order beer for home delivery, thanks to Dundee’s 71 Brewing, who also gave us virtual tour of their brewery.