Johnson opens £4.3m polar innovation centre

Universities and science minister Jo Johnson has opened the British Antarctic Survey's Aurora Innovation Centre, which will support cross-disciplinary research on environmental challenges.

Backed by £4.3 million from the government’s £4.7 billion Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, the centre, at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, also aims to show the potential socio-economic benefits from the application of polar research in other regions.

Beatrix Schlarb-Ridley, director of innovation at BAS, said: “From novel bioactives for biotechnology and agrotech, autonomous and remote sensing for challenging environments, to modelling for space, weather forecasts and sea level rise, our expertise can add value to many different sectors of industry and society.”