History
Norwich Research Park - Timeline
For over a century Norwich Research Park has made a huge contribution to science. Here are some of the highlights but for the full history take a a look at our detailed timeline
| 1910 | John Innes Horticultural Institution (JHI) was founded in South Merton Norfolk with funds bequeathed by John Innes, a merchant and philanthropist. |
| 1939-45 | About half the land at JIHI was transferred from experimental to economic crops and research was re-directed towards the immediate problems of food production in war. |
| 1960 | JIHI renamed John Innes Institute (JII) to better encapsulate the plant, microbial and mammalian cell research in progress. |
| 1960 | The go-ahead to build new university in East Anglia is given the green light. |
| 1962 | Plans agreed for a food research Institute (FRI) close to the UEA site (which started development in 1960) to extend research on food other than meat. |
| 1967 | JII moved to Norwich to form an association with UEA, and was temporarily housed in FRI. |
| 1972 | The Centre for Climatic Research opens at UEA, founded by climatologist Hubert Lamb. |
| 1977 | Stamp issued to celebrate FRI Scientists Prof. Richard (Dick) Synge’s Nobel prize in Chemistry (1952) for his contribution to partition chromatography. |
| 1978 | Norman Foster’s first major building, The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts us officially opened. |
| 1987 | The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL) founded for research on molecular plant pathology. 1989 – formal opening of TSL, occupying building on the John Innes Institute site. |
| 1992 | Official Launch of Norwich Research Park. (UEA’s school of Biological & Chemical Sciences, JII, IFR Norwich, the MAFF Food Science Laboratory and the British Sugar Technical Centre were the original members). |
| 1994 | Renamed John Innes Centre (JIC) when JII integrated with part of PBI and AFRC Nitrogen Fixation Unit which moved from University of Sussex. |
| 1998 | Prime Minister Tony Blair announced the go-ahead for the construction of a £214 million, 809 bed, new hospital. The project was the first large Private Finance Initiative (PFI) hospital scheme for the NHS. |
| 1998 | The Atkinson Report presented to BBSRC (Biotechnology and Biological Research Council) recommended rationalisation of IFR onto a single site; the consolidation was completed in September 2000. |
| 2002 | Norwich Bio-Incubator opens offering the first commercial space on the Park for start-ups and spin out companies. |
| 2009 |
TGAC (The Genome Analysis Centre) opened and quickly established itself as an expert partner in high throughput sequencing and as a leading member of the international wheat genome project consortium. |
| 2010 | Refurbished Innovation Centre is opened offering 30 state of the art office and laboratory spaces for growing businesses. |
| 2012 |
In August 2012 key stakeholders in Norwich Research Park North created Norwich Research Partners Limited Liability Partnerships to help them achieve their objectives. |
| 2015 | Bob Champion Research & Education building opens. |
| 2017 | Leaf SystemsTM opens |
| 2018 | Quadram Institute due to open |
NRP Timeline
NRP Timeline
View a visual timeline of NRP's history