About
Biofilms are a collective of one or more types of microorganisms that can grow on different surfaces and impact many different aspects of society. They are central to some of the most urgent global challenges, including:
- food and water security
- antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
- infections disease and contamination
- energy losses
- damage in the food industry and consumer sector
The University has a large, interdisciplinary group of biofilm academics and researchers. As part of the Institute for Life Sciences, our projects range in scale and fields of application, but explore topics like:
- the molecular ecology and generic make-up of biofilms
- how biofilms interact within different environments
- developing new therapies that will overcome antibiotic tolerance caused by biofilms
Our work includes the National Biofilms Innovation Centre research project. This resulted in the formation of the National Biofilms Innovation Centre (NBIC), led by the University of Southampton in partnership with the Universities of Liverpool, Nottingham and Edinburgh.
We're also supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Innovate UK, the Hartree Centre, and a wider consortium of 41 more research organisations and more than 100 companies.
The NBIC’s involvement means we can bring the best of UK biofilm research together with the industrial sectors to accelerate the adoption of new technologies into live products and services.
