Life Sciences Scotland Aberdeen network

Life sciences Scotland Aberdeen is a network group for the life sciences community of Aberdeen City and Shire.

We provide a dynamic forum for companies, academia and the public sector to meet, exchange ideas and build relationships regionally, nationally and internationally to support the growth of the sector into a robust and sustainable cluster.

We deliver regular network meetings that feature company presentations as well as discussions around regional and national life science issues.

We work to raise the profile of life science achievements from the region as part of the Scottish life science cluster. We work with other networking groups across Scotland and support the Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Future (ACSEF) economic development group’s ambitions to build the intellectual capital of the region.

What we can do for you?

• Help you get involved in life sciences activities in Aberdeen City and Shire

• Help direct you to local expertise in the life sciences sector and across Scotland

Aberdeen Life Sciences

Aberdeen is one of the most successful economic regions outside of London, driven mainly by the discovery of North Sea oil in the 1970s. Since then, the city has reinvented itself from a regional port dependent upon fishing, farming and tourism, to the centre of the UK’s energy industry and one of Europe’s most enterprising regions.

In addition to its position as energy capital it also has a rapidly growing life science and medical sector built around the long tradition of research excellence at the Universities, institutes and NHS. It currently contains one of the highest concentrations of life scientists per capita in Europe.

Key facts

• 1st Chair of Medicine in English speaking world created in 1497 (University of Aberdeen)

• Nobel prize for the discovery of insulin (JJR McLeod)

• Birthplace of MRI scanner

• Life science sector 1500 employees

• Two universities and seven institutes

• 20 companies totalling approx 200 employees

• A thriving research community

• Robert Gordon University was named as the best modern university in the UK by the Times Good University Guide 2009.

• The University of Aberdeen has an excellent reputation for teaching quality and research, and has recently seen a meteoric rise up the Times University league rankings to 137th in the world, the fastest rising institution in the world's top 200.

• Aberdeen also has seven institutes that carry out life science research, including the world renowned Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health that is now part of the University of Aberdeen, and the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute.

Companies

There are over 20 life science companies in Aberdeen City and Shire, working in the field of therapeutics, environmental microbiology, food and health, medical devices, anti-infectives and diagnostics. Furthermore, it boasts a top ten pharmaceutical company, Pfizer that has its protein therapeutics labs located in Aberdeen.

Areas of activity

Contact us:

For further information please contact David MacCallum.

Links

Universities, Colleges and Institutes

• Macaulay Land Use Research Institute
• Robert Gordon University
• Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health (now part of University of Aberdeen)
• Scottish Agricultural College
• University of Aberdeen

Aberdeen City and Shire Based Companies

You can find life sciences companies in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire on the Life Sciences Scotland directory. Simply select Aberdeen City or Aberdeenshire in the Scottish Region menu and click Search.

If you would like your organisation to be added to the directory, please contact us.

Partners

• Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Future
• Aberdeen City Council
• Aberdeenshire Council
• NHS Grampian
• NHS Research Scotland Permissions Coordinating Centre
• Scottish Academic Health Sciences Collaboration
• Scottish Development International
• Scottish Enterprise
• SULSA

National life sciences initiatives

• Biotechnology Yes
• Innocentive
• Interface
• Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
• Office of Life Sciences
• University Technology