Our History
For over a decade the Biotechnology and Biological Research Council (BBSRC) have invested in UK wheat research through three institute strategic research programmes. These investments have led to ground-breaking research and a thriving wheat research community.
2023-2028
Delivering Sustainable Wheat
The Delivering Sustainable Wheat (DSW) Institute Strategic Programme is our current programme. DSW builds upon the discoveries and developments made during the WISP and DFW programmes. It includes the John Innes Centre, Rothamsted Research, Earlham Institute, Quadram Institute Bioscience, the Universities of Bristol, Lancaster, Leeds, Imperial College London, and Nottingham, NIAB, and NISD-UEA.
2017-2023
Designing Future Wheat
The Designing Future Wheat (DFW) Institute Strategic Programme followed on from WISP. It included three new participants in the consortium: the Earlham Institute, Quadram Institute Bioscience, and EMBL-EBI. The programme aimed to improve on the novel wheat germplasm generated through WISP. This germplasm was provided in a readily accessible and referenced form to commercial wheat breeders through the Academic and Breeder Toolkits.
2014-2017
Wheat Improvement Strategic Programme
Building on existing funding through BBSRC’s Strategic Longer and Larger grants scheme, the Wheat Improvement Strategic Programme (WISP) aimed to create wheat germplasm characterised for key traits and to identify genetic markers to guide breeding programmes. WISP was a comprehensive pre-breeding programme which brought together the John Innes Centre, NIAB, Rothamsted Research, and the universities of Bristol and Nottingham.
Case studies
BBSRC have produced a series of case studies demonstrating the impact of our wheat research.
