Community webinar

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) 2025 community webinar took place on 9 October 2025, hosted by BBSRC Executive Chair, Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith.

The main target audience was the bioscience research and innovation community from:

  • universities
  • research institutes
  • industry
  • policy

The webinar shared highlights of BBSRC’s commitments, ambitions, and current priorities for UK bioscience.

The webinar also featured presentations on two key themes of interest to BBSRC’s stakeholders, namely:

  • an update on BBSRC’s responsive mode evaluation and reform presented by Dr Jef Grainger, Associate Director for Research Strategy and Programmes
  • strategic review of BBSRC fellowships presented by Dr Aidan Grimsley, Senior Portfolio Manager for Fellowships and Early Career Researchers

Attendees were invited to submit questions and comments both in advance of the webinar and during the event itself.

This gave attendees the opportunity to raise any questions relevant to BBSRC’s strategic direction and future activity as well as any immediate challenges or opportunities for bioscience.

The webinar ended with a live question and answer session with members of BBSRC’s Executive Leadership Team.

Watch BBSRC’s 2025 community webinar

Video credit: BBSRC
Video transcript and on-screen captions are available by watching on YouTube.

Webinar presentation slides.

Last updated: 11 November 2025

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