Francis Crick Institute

Science programme

The institute defines its research programme as exploring "seven high-level science questions reflecting both major issues of interest in biomedical research and the current research strategies of its six founders". According to the institute, these questions are:

Funders

The participants in the Francis Crick Institute providing funding are:

Building design and construction

The Francis Crick Institute is located in a new state-of-the-art building built next to St Pancras International railway station in the Camden area of Central London. It consists of four reinforced concrete blocks up to eight storeys high plus four basement levels. The total internal floor area is 82,578m² including 29,179m² of laboratories with 4km of laboratory benching and 21,839m² of associated write up space.

In July 2008 Arup Project Management, who had previously been involved in site evaluation studies, were appointed by the client UKCMRI as project manager for the Institute’s chosen location at Brill Place. In August the full professional team was appointed, including architect and lead designer HOK, AKT II (structural engineer), Arup (building services engineering) and Turner & Townsend (cost managers). In 2010 PLP Architecture was appointed to collaborate with HOK on the building’s external envelope and BMJ architects were retained as a biological research facilities consultant.

Following planning approval by Camden in December 2010, Laing O'Rourke was appointed as main contractor in March 2011.

Construction began in July 2011 and reached practical completion on time and within budget in August 2016, with researchers starting work in the new building in September.

The construction cost was £465 million and including fit-out of the building the capital cost of the project has been approximately £700 million. When it is fully occupied and operational, in early 2017, the Francis Crick Institute will employ 1500 staff, including 1250 scientists, and have an operating budget of approximately £130 million a year.

As well as state of the art scientific equipment, much of it extremely sensitive to vibration and electromagnetic emissions, and requiring advanced methods of air handling, over a third of the building is given over to plant rooms and services distribution. The facility incorporates a combined heat and power plant in order to provide low-carbon onsite power. Solar panels installed in the roof provide extra renewable power and all light fittings are energy-efficient. The roof also hides the heating and cooling units. A third of the building is below ground-level to reduce its visible size and provide further protection to sensitive equipment.

Labs within the building are arranged over four floors, made up of four interconnected blocks, designed to encourage interaction between scientists working in different research fields. The institute also includes a public exhibition/gallery space, an educational space, a 450-seat auditorium and a community facility.

Organisation, leadership and governance

As of 2016 The Crick is led by a Board of directors, an executive committee and associate research directors. The board of directors is chaired by Sir David Cooksey and includes Maggie Dallman, Peter Gruss, Lynne Gailey, Sir Harpal Kumar, Lord Willetts, David Lomas, Chris Mottershead, Philip Yea, Jeremy Farrar and Doreen Cantrell.

As of 2016 the executive committee of the Crick is staffed by Paul Nurse, (Chief Executive) and includes David Roblin, Chief Operating Officer, Sir Jim Smith, Director of Research, Sir Richard Treisman, Director of Research, Nick Carter, Melanie Chatfield, Ruth Collier, John Cooper, Alison Davis, Steven J. Gamblin, Malcolm Irving, John Macey, Stephane Maikovsky, Katie Matthews, Sir Keith Peters, Geraint Rees and Jonathan Weber.

The associate research directors are Anne O'Garra, Julian Downward and John Diffley.

History

In 2003 the Medical Research Council decided that its National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) would need to relocate from Mill Hill. A Task Force, one of whose external members was Sir Paul Nurse, was established to consider options. Sites eventually rejected included Addenbrooke's and the National Temperance Hospital.

On 11 February 2005 it was announced that NIMR would relocate to UCL, but this was dependent on funding from the government’s Large Facilities Capital Fund and did not proceed.

In December 2006 the Cooksey Review, commissioned by the Chancellor Gordon Brown in March, was published. It assessed the strategic priorities of UK health research, highlighting in particular the importance of translating basic research into health and economic benefits.

The creation of the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation (UKCMRI) was announced by the then British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, on 5 December 2007.

On 13 June 2008 the 3.5 acre eventual site on Brill Place was bought for UKCMRI for £85m, of which £46.75 was provided by MRC.

On 15 July 2010 it was announced that Nobel laureate Sir Paul Nurse would be the first Director and Chief Executive of the UKCMRI. He took up his post on 1 January 2011.

On 20 October 2010 the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, confirmed that the British Government would be contributing £220 million over four years towards the capital cost of the Centre.

On 11 November 2010 Cancer Research UK, the Medical Research Council, UCL and the Wellcome Trust signed an agreement to establish the UKCMRI as a charitable foundation, subject to the agreement of the Charity Commission.

On 14 December 2010 Camden Council granted the planning approval for the scheme which had been submitted on 1 September.

On 15 April 2011 it was announced that Imperial College London and King's College London would be joining the UKCMRI as partners and that both had signed a memorandum of understanding to commit £40 million each to the project.

On 25 May 2011, it was announced that the UKCMRI would be renamed the Francis Crick Institute in July to coincide with ground being broken on the construction of its building, in honour of the British scientist Francis Crick. In July 2011 the UKCMRI was renamed the Francis Crick Institute.

A dedication ceremony for the new building was held on 11 October 2011, attended by Mayor of London Boris Johnson, David Willetts MP and Sir Paul Nurse. Francis Crick's surviving daughter Gabrielle (by his second marriage) gave a short speech while his son Mike (by his first marriage) donated Crick's California licence plate "AT GC" into a time capsule buried during the ceremony.

On 6 June 2013 a topping out ceremony was held, the Institute’s science strategy was announced and a £3 million grant from the Wolfson Foundation was confirmed.

In July 2015 GlaxoSmithKline was announced as the institute's first commercial partner. The deal involves contribution of resources and personnel to joint projects.

On 7 October 2015 Tomas Lindahl, Emeritus group leader at the Francis Crick Institute and Emeritus director of Cancer Research UK at Clare Hall Laboratory, Hertfordshire, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry together with Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar.

On 24 February 2016 ‘Paradigm’, a 14-metre high sculpture made of weathered steel and designed by the British artist Conrad Shawcross, was installed outside the institute. It is one of the largest public sculptures in London.

On 1 March 2016 Professor Tim Bliss, from the Crick, and Professors Graham Collingridge (University of Bristol) and Richard Morris (University of Edinburgh) were awarded The Brain Prize.

In mid August 2016 construction work finished and the building was handed over. The first scientists moved in on 1 September.

On 9 November 2016 the Francis Crick Institute was officially opened by HM The Queen, accompanied by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and HRH The Duke of York. During the visit a portrait of Francis Crick by Robert Ballagh was unveiled. As part of her tour, The Queen started the sequencing of the genome of the Crick’s Director, Sir Paul Nurse – all three billion letters in his DNA code.