About Us

Academia and industry working together to deliver the bio-business leaders of the future and solving the industrial research challenges of the present.

Our staff are drawn from three faculties as interdisciplinary working is crucial to success.

The focus of the Biopharmaceutical Bioprocessing Technology Centre (BBTC) is on biosystems engineering, an area in which the team has unique expertise and international recognition. In addition to enhancing research activities the BBTC bridges the gap between University based research and the taking up of technology by industry. The BBTC will establish a unifying umbrella for biologists, modellers, engineers, and chemists to undertake research and knowledge transfer, and through this provide interdisciplinary training in disciplines relevant to bioprocessing at the undergraduate and postgraduate level.

The goal is to understand underlying biological complexity and as a consequence manipulate biological behaviour and/or realise improved whole process design. In addition to this, we aim to assist industry by offering:

  • Students ready to tackle industrial challenges
  • Industrial training courses (Continuing Professional Development (CPD))
  • A hub offering knowledge and skills transfer
  • The opportunity to guide research

Biological understanding of cellular processes relevant to bioprocessing is far from complete, especially the impact of scale-up and mass culture on performance.

Our approach is based on biological scientists, physical scientists and engineering scientists working together to enhance understanding of the process and the development chain, thereby generating expertise which can interface with the business knowledge base and lead to improved opportunities for exploitation.

Regional Links

At a regional level the Centre has formal links with One North East, Newcastle Science City, and the Centres of Excellence including Centre for Process Innovation and the Centre of Excellence in Life Sciences.