Today Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) has published its review of data-intensive bioscience.
Bioscience has clearly undergone a seismic shift in the scale and complexity of data being harnessed by the research and innovation community in the past decade.
BBSRC’s Forward Look for UK Bioscience identifies innovative data-driven approaches as key to unlocking new biological understanding and maximising the value of the data that are available from a diverse range of advanced technologies.
This wealth of data is creating powerful opportunities, allowing researchers to explore novel research questions leading to advances in frontier knowledge discovery and to address key challenges underpinning a healthy, prosperous and sustainable future.
Showcasing research by UK bioscientists
Based on input from the bioscience community engaged in data-intensive research, the report provides a signpost towards future UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)-BBSRC activity.
This provides insight into our understanding of the research landscape in this area and highlights current issues and future needs.
The report also showcases some of the exciting data-intensive research being carried out by UK bioscientists.
Guiding our strategy for data-intensive bioscience
BBSRC Executive Chair, Professor Melanie Welham, said:
The report highlights the opportunities for important and exciting research across the spectrum of science relevant to UKRI-BBSRC’s mission.
It provides a clear framework to guide our strategy for data-intensive bioscience, which is supported by BBSRC’s Council. I would like to take this opportunity to extend my sincere thanks to Professor Millar and the Expert Group for their guidance and support.
Looking forward to supporting new research careers
Professor Andrew Millar, chair for the Expert Group who provided advice to UKRI-BBSRC through the review process, noted:
Bioscience has emerged as a data-rich discipline, in a transformation that is spreading as widely now as molecular biology in the twentieth century.
In this report, the UKRI-BBSRC research community marks the moment and recognises some of the changes required.
We look forward to supporting new research careers, where data are valued and shared widely, where new software is a natural part of Biology, and where re-analysis and modelling are as creative as experimentation in understanding the rules of life and their applications.
Top image: Neurological Research Laboratory (credit: janiecbros/GettyImages)