The Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) is a research and development organization that harnesses advanced knowledge in biology, the physical sciences, engineering, and environmental and social sciences to devise viable solutions to global energy challenges and reduce the impact of fossil fuels to global warming. As the world’s first research institution solely dedicated to the new field of energy bioscience, the EBI is focusing on the development of next-generation biofuels as well as various applications of biology to the energy sector.
The EBI represents a unique collaboration between the University of California, Berkeley; the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and BP, which will support the Institute with a 10-year, $500-million grant.
The EBI hosts 60 research groups, which are comprised of 120 faculty members and 200 postdoctoral researchers, graduate, and undergraduate students at both the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Illinois. Additional research facilities include a 320-acre Energy Farm in Illinois and an 112,000-sq-ft Helios Building in Berkeley, which will be completed in 2013.