Our capabilities

BioYork comprises three related components, all driven and directed by industry demand.

BioYork Research Centre

The BioYork Research Centre is a hub for UK bioeconomy research and development.

The University of York developed the Centre in step with the Government’s Science and Innovation Strategy, to help position the UK as a global leader in the bioeconomy revolution through a deepening of knowledge exchange between basic bioscience research and subsequent industrial application.

The Centre will bring the best scientists from different bioeconomy disciplines together in one building that will also provide a base for industrial partners to embed their research and development staff.

Based on a track record of excellence with impact, the BioYork Research Centre drives innovation in discovery and development of natural chemicals, materials and processes to meet the global challenges of healing, feeding and fuelling the world.

BioYork Translational Centre

The Translational Centre is the next step in the development and scale-up of innovations emerging from the BioYork Research Centre, as well as a first point of assistance for companies in the bioeconomy.

The Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC) is the University of York’s open access scale-up facility based on a business park close to the main university campus. The BDC works closely with world leading research groups at the University of York, and is very well connected to the national, European and world knowledge base for biorenewables.

The BDC is scaling up to support more spin-outs and SMEs as well as provide vital assistance to some of the biggest companies located in the UK. The BDC is also a founding member of BioPilotsUK – a UK wide network of open access scale-up centres connected to BioYork, providing a national scale-up capability available to all UK businesses.

The BioYork Translational Centre provides:

  • A next step for the demonstration and scale-up of innovations emerging from the BioYork Research Centre

  • A landing point for SMEs to access support in the development of new green processes and products

  • A site for incubation of new businesses, both spin-outs from York and businesses wishing to site near this knowledge base.

BioYork demonstrators

In partnership with industry, BioYork is creating and developing demonstrator facilities that provide businesses with the opportunity to test their technologies at multi-tonne scale.

Together with the Research Centre and Translational Centre, these demonstrators will provide a route to rapidly take new innovations through to full-scale commercial operations and so compete effectively in the global race to establish sustainable bioeconomy industries.