From unlocking the secrets of animal movement to tackling antimicrobial resistance, the UK’s brightest bioscience minds are pushing the boundaries of innovation.
Their groundbreaking discoveries will not only transform our understanding of nature but also lead to real-world benefits for health, food security, and in technology.
With £9 million in funding, BBSRC’s prestigious 2024 Fellowships scheme is supporting 19 future science leaders on pioneering projects that address some of society’s biggest challenges. These world-class researchers are advancing medicine, agriculture, and bio-inspired engineering.
Here at the University of Sheffield we have two colleagues awarded a Fellowship Dr Alex Williams and Dr Jess Dunn.
Alex is a plant and microbial ecologist investigating the intricate interactions between plants, soil microbes, and environmental stressors, with a particular focus on root exudation and its role in carbon cycling and ecosystem resilience. With a background spanning plant immunity, metabolomics, and microbiome research, his work explores how plants recruit beneficial microbes through root exudates, particularly under climate change-induced stresses such as drought and warming.
Alex’s BBSRC fellowship will use advanced metabolomic and isotopic techniques to uncover how different grassland species modify their exudate chemistry in response to environmental pressures, shaping microbial interactions that enhance carbon sequestration and soil health. This work will provide critical insights for sustainable land management, climate adaptation strategies, and agricultural practices, ultimately contributing to ecosystem conservation and resilience in a changing world.
Jess is a plant scientist with particular expertise in plant physiology and development. Much of her work explores how plant development influences function and stress resilience.
Jess’ BBSRC fellowship will explore plant reproductive physiology in the globally important cereal crops wheat and rice. Her research will define the unknown function(s) and developmental regulation of reproductive stomata (microscopic pores that enable carbon dioxide uptake and cooling) and explore whether they offer a novel route to improving cereal productivity and heat resilience.
As part of her fellowship, Jess will lead an international collaboration with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT, Mexico) to investigate variation in wheat spike cooling and photosynthesis in heat stressed field trials. This work will potentially offer novel targets for crop breeders and insights for improving productivity and yield resilience for the ongoing climate crisis.
Both have received awards of over £400,000.
The Fellowship programme empowers outstanding early-career scientists, giving them the freedom to pursue bold ideas with the potential for lasting impact.
Groundbreaking, cutting-edge discoveries in biology happen because we empower talented researchers to ask bold questions and push the boundaries of knowledge. By supporting future bioscience leaders and investing in fundamental bioscience today, we are laying the foundation for tomorrow’s innovations. BBSRC’s latest Fellowships exemplify the power of bioscience research, to unlock new discoveries that have the potential to provide bio-based solutions to some of society’s most pressing challenges and bring positive benefits to the lives and livelihoods of citizens around the world.
Dr Karen Lewis
Executive Director, Capability and Innovation at the Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)