About Us - Energy & Biosciences Institute
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About Us

The Energy &
Biosciences Institute

Overview

The Energy & Biosciences Institute provides industrial sponsors access to world-class, collaborative research facilities across the energy, chemical, material sciences, data sciences, engineering, and agriculture sectors.

Sponsorship opens access to our partner network of 7,500 faculty and principle investigators, and 100,000 student, postdoctoral, and professional researchers. Our team will help you to establish the most effective collaborative networks.

OUR PARTNERS
  • University of California, Berkeley
  • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  • University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana

The Energy & Biosciences
Institute in Numbers

sq ft of lab space
Funding
Funded programs and Projects
Researchers engaged
in past investigations
Publications
Patents
View 2018 Annual Report

Our History

2007

The Launch of EBI

The Energy Biosciences Institute is created as a unique partnership between the energy company BP, an international leader in energy production, and the world-renowned scientific expertise of three public research institutions—the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

2015

Change in Direction

BP renews its agreement with the EBI for continued support in Soured Systems Biology, Technologies for Improving Feedstock Production and Harvest, and Waste Treatment.

2016

New Management and Program

John D. Coates, professor of microbiology in the Department of Plant & Microbial Biology at UC Berkeley, is named new EBI director, succeeding former director Chris Somerville. Coates sets new goals for EBI: to rebuild the funding base and expand the institute research focus beyond biology to encompass new discoveries in renewable energy technology based on novel chemistry, physics, and geochemical research.

2017

New Funding Commitment

Shell and AMPAC commit to significant new funding and the EBI continues to develop its incubator program.

2018

Development of Student and Outreach Programs

The EBI begins to develop its education and outreach programs. The biennial EBI-Shell retreat brings together nearly 100 sponsored researchers. EBI changes its name from the Energy Biosciences Institute to the Energy & Biosciences Institute.

2019

Initiation of the Start-up Incubator and Education and Outreach programs

EBI officially rolls out its EBI2 Entrepreneurial Business Incubator, dedicating 3,000 square feet of research space to the effort. The education program targets undergraduate students across energy disciplines and conducts outreach to local grade schools. EBI begins to seek support for a merit-based fellowship.

2020

Graduate Students and Postdoc fellowship programs to be launched

Mission Pillars

At the EBI, we believe innovative solutions arise from the synergy of three activities—core research, education, and entrepreneurship. Therefore, our operational model is designed to facilitate solutions-based energy research while enabling commercialization through the incubation of start-up enterprises and conducting progressive science outreach for undergraduates embarking on new careers, as well as young minds first encountering the mysteries of science.

Core Research

Education

Entrepreneurship

01

Core Research

The EBI solicits diverse sponsorship across the energy landscape, which enables its partners to apply extensive interdisciplinary research and supply chain analysis to a wide range of energy and petrochemical challenges.

02

Educational Outreach

Underpinning every game-changing piece of scientific research is the inspiration and education of the individuals involved. The EBI seeks to move energy science education forward with plans for competitive fellowships, workshops, training, and summer programs, as well as certificate programs in energy science entrepreneurialism and outreach to children in the K -12 school system.

03

Entrepreneurial Stewardship

An idea, properly incubated, can change the world. We offer dedicated, highly instrumented lab facilities, industry insights, and connectivity in energy research and development for aspiring start-ups.

Our Facilities

The capabilities of the EBI’s award-winning partner facilities mirror the breadth of collaborative research necessary to solve energy challenges. All facilities at our partner institutes are available, including the Molecular Foundry, National Center for Electron Microscopy, Joint Genome Institute, Advanced Biofuels Process Demonstration Unit, Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP), Advanced Light Source, and Materials Research Laboratory. These are just a few among a multidisciplinary group of more than 250 facilities that address a spectrum of topics.

Energy & Biosciences Institute

Koshland Hall, University of California, Berkeley

The Energy & Biosciences Institute is located at Koshland Hall, on the University of California (UC) Berkeley, campus. It is an Academic Research Institute within UC Berkeley.

The Molecular Foundry

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

The Molecular Foundry is a U.S. Department of Energy-funded nanoscience research facility that provides users with access to cutting edge expertise and instrumentation in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment. As a national User Facility, the Molecular Foundry serves hundreds of academic, industrial, and government scientists from around the world annually.

To learn more, click here.

Materials Research Laboratory

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The Materials Research Laboratory (MRL) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is an interdisciplinary laboratory dedicated to transformative research and technology in life sciences using team-based strategies to tackle grand societal challenges. The MRL has one of the largest shared-instrumentation facilities in the nation, with more than 100 advanced instruments for materials fabrication, processing, and characterization, supporting the education and research of over 1,000 scientists and engineers.

To learn more, click here.

Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

The Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) is the nation’s largest research program dedicated to the development of an artificial solar-fuels generation science and technology. More than 100 world-class scientists and engineers from Caltech and its lead partner, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, strive to find new and effective ways to produce fuels using only sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide.

To learn more, click here.

Advanced Light Source

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

The Advanced Light Source (ALS) is a U.S. Department of Energy-funded synchrotron facility that provides users from around the world access to the brightest beams of soft x-rays, together with hard x-rays and infrared, for scientific research and technology development in a wide range of disciplines. The unique characteristics of the ALS beamlines and experimental facilities provide cutting-edge research capabilities.

To learn more, click here.

Project and Funding Distribution

Project Distribution

Principal investigators at the EBI conduct sponsored research in their own dedicated laboratory space at one of our associated facilities.

Sponsor Support

Sponsors can fund a single project or enter into agreements that advance an individualized portfolio of research. To encourage the synergies necessary for innovative energy research, the EBI solicits sponsorship from the entire portfolio of energy sectors, and has been successful in attracting diverse sponsorship, including BP, Shell, AMPAC, and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Current sponsor commitments of $30 million are contributing to the vitality of the EBI’s research.

Leverage Funding

The EBI’s principal investigators also have attracted $160 million of leverage funding and new research partnerships as a result of their research directly connected to the EBI.

Donate

Your generous contribution supports our mission and will enable us to expand our research and community outreach beyond that supported by our sponsors.

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