History

In 2014, a joint project between Aberystwyth University and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) (which has since become part of UK Research and Innovation) was created to convert the 21st Century’s grand challenges of food, water and energy security into sustainable and prosperous opportunities for society, recognising that successfully meeting these challenges will go a long way towards ensuring the health and well-being of generations to come.

The idea was to build on the successful Excellence with Impact award in 2011 for the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Science (IBERS) within Aberystwyth University, and to focus on three grand challenge priority areas:

• Food Security
• Climate Change Mitigation
• Industrial Biotechnology/Renewable Energy

In December 2014, the project secured £20m funding from the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government, and together with the £8.5m and £12m from Aberystwyth University and the BBSRC respectively, Aberystwyth Innovation and Enterprise Campus was born.

The name has since changed to AberInnovation but the vision very much remains: to drive sustained benefit to the economy and society, from the local to the global, by harnessing the region's unique natural resources and interdisciplinary capabilities. 

Innovation in agriculture, the environment and natural resources will play a critical role in fostering a knowledge-based bio-economy and forms a key part of the sustainable economic strategies of both Wales and the UK.