Science Organisation

Our science is carried out by Group Leaders who lead research groups of Senior Research Associates, postdoctoral research scientists, support staff, graduate students and visitors. Group Leaders are appointed on an indefinite or career-track basis and obtain additional external funds for their research groups. At Babraham Institute, normally only Group Leaders are permitted to be applicants or co-applicants for research grants or to be graduate student supervisors.

Institute Strategic Programmes bring together Group Leaders sharing complementary approaches within a research programme which is addressing a common set of biological questions. You can find summary information pages of the ISPs provided by each Head of Laboratory or increasingly detailed information on the pages of individual research Group Leaders.

Two themes are central to our overall research remit: cell signalling – how cells respond to cues from their external environment; and epigenetics – how the genome is regulated without change to the DNA sequence of genes. In the Laboratories, our research under these themes is carried out in the context of important processes in early development and of key functions of the body, particularly in the immune and nervous systems. Much of the work employs genetic models in rodents which can reveal both underlying molecular mechanisms at the cellular level and their overall impact in terms of dysfunction and disease.

The Laboratories are supported by a substantial infrastructure of scientific facilities and corporate services.