Macquarie launches 'virtual' biotech institute

Macquarie University has linked together several of its existing departments, along with outside interests to build its own 'virtual' biotech research institute.

The new institute, formally known as the Macquarie University Biotechnology Research Institute, will be a conglomeration of Macquarie's current expertise across the genetics field plus input from commercial and industrial sectors too. According to Prof Peter Bergquist, director of the new institute, the aim is to consolidate the university's biotech approach and streamline research, education and postgraduate training in the biotech area.

"The idea of the institute is to bring together people who would not normally have worked together previously," said Assoc Prof Michael Gillings, of the Department of Molecular Prospecting and Microbial Biodiversity at Macquarie. "Researchers from statistics, bioinformatics, molecular biology, microbial biodiversity, bioresources, astrobiology and physics will all be able to meet formally in a forum, as opposed to informally as we do now."

Gillings said the advantages of the virtual institute were that it gave a much more coherent front for outside commercial interests to interact with, and it also allowed more efficient use of resources across similar yet slightly different areas of research.

"Not only does it present a strong and unified front for our biotech research, it demonstrates we have a high level of collaboration between the departments. Plus it is also a convenient port of call for industry to tap into, and should help us make the most of funding opportunities," he added.

Bergquist explained the 'virtual' approach was deliberately chosen, instead of a physical presence in any of the university's existing departments.

"This is to foster the multidisciplinary future of biotechnology," he said. "The institute will provide access to facilities and technologies and will hold workshops and seminars to bring together the many scientific disciplines that contribute to contemporary biotechnology."

Macquarie will use the Institute as a vehicle for increased levels of commercialization, with board level input from Deloittes and CSIRO giving a real world spin to the overall direction. The institute also has members from other Australian and New Zealand universities.

"[The institute] is modelled on previously successful Israeli virtual institutes. They used the decentralised approach to give a totally transparent hierarchy to the new venture -- this way, nobody feels intimidated, and nobody feels they own it," noted Gillings.