The Rowett Research Institute and the University of Aberdeen today (Friday, October 20), announced a commitment to planning a merger.
An internationally important centre for research into nutrition, the Rowett has existed as an independent Institute in Aberdeen for almost 94 years. The Institute plans to join forces with the University of Aberdeen to establish a centre of excellence in Nutrition and Human Health.
The move follows extensive discussions between the two institutions about combining the strengths of the Rowett’s research in nutrition with the biomedical and applied health sciences of the University of Aberdeen.
The Rowett Institute will become an Institute within the University.
Commenting on the proposed merger, Professor Peter Morgan, Director of the Rowett Research Institute, said: “The Rowett has a long and well-established history in nutrition research. It is an Institute that has always striven to be at the forefront of scientific developments.
“Modern nutrition research increasingly requires work across multiple disciplines, the building of larger teams and access to a broad range of funding sources.
“The Rowett has always had strong research interactions with the University of Aberdeen, and already has shared appointments.
“Formal merger of the research excellence of the Rowett and the University of Aberdeen makes perfect sense in the context of modern research in the biomedical field. It will facilitate the multi-disciplinarity required to research nutrition and preventive medicine and increase access to broader sources of funding. I also consider this the best way to secure the future of the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen.
“This is an exciting prospect that will take the University and the Rowett from their current positions into a new arena where, together, they can extend their research and reputation in the biomedical field encompassed by nutrigenomics and thereby serve the health needs not only of Scotland but also of UK and Europe.”
Professor C Duncan Rice, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, said: “Both the University and the Rowett have distinguished records for research excellence in the biomedical and nutrition fields.
“There is already a significant amount of research collaboration between the institutions, which we believe should be developed further.
“A merger offers both institutions the opportunity to combine these strengths and create an innovative new centre that will open up exciting new opportunities for research.
“Most important of all, as well as being in the best interests of both institutions, it will give Aberdeen and Scotland a centre of excellence with enough critical mass and quality to be competitive at the highest international levels."
The University of Aberdeen and The Rowett Research Institute have engaged in collaborative research over a long period with many links between respective research staff. The Rowett’s shift of research emphasis towards human health and its focus on explicit scientific applications complement the University’s expertise in translational medicine, biomedical research and applied health sciences.
The combining of the two, and their research facilities, will add value to the current activity of both in areas such as Obesity and Metabolic Health, Vascular Research and Gut Health, and will also create exciting new opportunities for strategic research development in areas such as Neuroscience, Mental Health and Developmental Biology.
It will also create one of the largest groups of microbiologists in the country, and some of the best equipped, state-of-the-art facilities underpinning molecular and cell biology in Scotland.
The Scottish and UK higher education research agendas have increasingly focused on the benefits to be derived from research collaboration and pooling and the University is fully committed to these objectives. The creation of a centre of excellence in Nutrition and Human Health with the Rowett will address the role of nutrition in the prevention of the major non-communicable diseases that presently challenge the economies of much of the developed world.