The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) is launching a unique people and knowledge exchange programme that offers exciting opportunities for those in the bioscience community to learn and share in a new environment. The new Flexible Interchange Programme (FLIP) will offer individuals and organisations the chance to gain a new perspective on bioscience research by exchanging knowledge with others.

The new programme is designed to increase the movement of people, ideas, technologies, and skills between environments – such as academia and industry or between public and private sector – in order to help develop genuine partnerships and foster long-term collaboration. The resulting interchanges will offer fresh insights to boost the impact of BBSRC-funded research.

Potential FLIP interchanges could include: interchanges between business and academia; movement of individuals between the academic base and policy-making or charitable sectors; or time spent working in a different scientific context.

FLIP aims to:

• enhance opportunities for the exchange of knowledge, technology and people between the research base and user communities and vice versa for economic and/or societal benefit
• facilitate the development of partnerships to foster longer-term collaborations, thereby maximising the impact of previously-funded BBSRC research
• allow for an expansion of the skill base of individuals, particularly in emerging, niche and vulnerable areas alongside our strategic priorities

For more information on the scheme, which offers up to £150,000 over a period of up to 24 months, please visit the BBSRC website.