Cambridge and Sanger Data-Intensive Bioscience FTMA

BBSRC FTMA funding will allow the University of Cambridge and the Wellcome Sanger Institute to strengthen engagement with industry, policymakers and the third sector in pursuit of their aligned missions to contribute to society and improve health. By connecting our researchers and technicians with partners we will offer opportunities to expand skills, support career development and collaborate more broadly beyond academia.

Together, we will deliver our FTMA by combining Sanger's powerful exploration of genomic technologies at scale, including their newly created Generative and Synthetic Genomics Programme, with the University's broad bioscience expertise, strong infrastructure and track record in facilitating activities such as policy workshops with government, entrepreneurial training and commercialisation via our strategic industry partners and the dynamic Cambridge bioscience cluster. We will support technicians, ECRs and established academics working within data-intensive bioscience or seeking to upskill in this area to pursue knowledge exchange (KE) placements. These may be local, international, incoming or outgoing. We will encourage relationship building and welcome applicants with their own ideas but will also support applicants in identifying relevant partners. Feedback from Sanger and Cambridge ECRs (via our previous FTMA) highlighted the need for additional support in forming new connections and an EDI need to offer more local opportunities especially for our ECR and technician communities. We aim to develop activities which benefit from our thriving KE ecosystem for both incoming and outgoing placements. This includes leveraging placements and training through contacts via our technology transfer offices Cambridge Enterprise (CE) and Genomics Innovation, and our strong strategic partnerships via Cambridge's Strategic Partnerships Office (SPO) and Sanger's Innovation Partnerships. Additionally, we will access existing relationships via Sanger's Wellcome Genome Campus (WGC) and Open Targets, and Cambridge's Milner Therapeutics Institute, Cambridge Academy of Therapeutic Sciences and interdisciplinary programmes such as Cambridge Centre for Data Driven Science (C2D3) and AI@Cam. We will also offer exchange opportunities with local third sector organisations through established initiatives such as Cambridge Conservation Initiative, a unique collaboration between the University and nine partners, the largest cluster of conservation organisations globally which inform practice.

To facilitate KE, skill building and organic placement opportunities, we engaged with our respective researcher and technician communities to enhance our offering, incorporating our respective areas of expertise and building on Cambridge's FTMA4 work and Sanger's Research Support Scheme. We propose a technician conference promoting networking and sharing of best practice building on Sanger's 2023 Research Institute Technician Symposium; a big data hackathon facilitated by Sanger and AI@Cam to tackle big challenges together; a workshop with UKHSA on genomic surveillance in vector-borne diseases and a policy workshop on the risks and opportunities in the use of AI and mutiomics data. Events will be co-created with relevant partners in industry and policy, promoting new relationships and building upon existing ones. FTMA placements will be used to progress conversations from these events into action.

Our joint Sanger-Cambridge FTMA board will have oversight of FTMA delivery, including assessing placement applications, monitoring accessibility of opportunities and ensuring the award is delivered according to community needs. We are committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion and will implement a programme of continuous monitoring and review to improve our offering with input from our board and research and technician communities, optimising access to opportunities across placements, training and events.