Careers: UKRI Future Leader Fellowships

Feature: Biology’s Dark Matter: the unseen life with a huge impact

News: Where are the bees? Tracking down which flowers they pollinate

Quick read: Saving the spectacled bear of deepest, darkest Colombia

Event: Norwich Single-Cell Symposium 2019

Research Project: Ship-seq: Nanopore sequencing of polar microbes on board research vessels

Tackling global challenges through life science research.

About the Institute

Science division and research

Services for science and industry

Learning, events and training

EI's research brings together a wealth of expertise in biosciences, bioinformatics, high performance computing and statistics to understand complex biological systems in plants and animals and their interaction with the environment.

Latest updates.

Protecting biodiversity in Colombia: former guerrilla fighters becoming citizen scientists

Researchers from the Earlham Institute and the University of Sydney are working with ex-combatants of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia to grow their capability to protect the country’s valuable biodiversity.

  • 13 August 2019

Where are the bees? Tracking down which flowers they pollinate

Earlham Institute researchers develop a new method to rapidly identify sources of bee pollen to understand which flowers are important for bees.

  • 07 August 2019

New rapid test diagnoses pneumonia and lower respiratory infections

EI scientists help to develop a new rapid diagnosis method for bacterial lower respiratory tract infections that could improve patient care and slow the spread of antimicrobial resistance.

  • 24 June 2019

Lettuce have it! Machine learning for cr-optimisation

Researchers in the Zhou Group at EI, in cooperation with Ely-based G’s Growers, have developed a machine learning platform, AirSurf-Lettuce, which works with computer vision and ultra-scale images taken from the air to help categorise lettuce crops in fields.

  • 10 June 2019

UEA Engagement award for the EI ‘Pink Pigeon Trail’

The Earlham Institute (EI) wins University of East Anglia (UEA) student Engagement Award for their unique conservation trail.

  • 07 June 2019

Sleep, wake, repeat: How do plants work on different time zones?

Plants can be night owls, too (and get old!)

  • 03 June 2019

Doing Science with Colombia 2019

The Doing Science with Colombia event will raise awareness of the important milestones that the bilateral science and innovation relationship is achieving and consider its future.

  • 02 Oct -
  • 02 Oct
  • 2019
  • Science

Norwich Single-Cell Symposium 2019

The Norwich Single-Cell Symposium covers single-cell genomics technologies and their application in microbial, plant, animal and human health and disease.

  • 16 Oct -
  • 17 Oct
  • 2019
  • Scientific training

EI Innovate: genomics data to advance bioscience

Developing solutions to global issues with EI’s advanced capabilities and expertise in genomics and bioinformatics - improving global food security, environmental management, conservation, health and wellbeing.

  • 13 Nov -
  • 13 Nov
  • 2019
  • Industry

ELIXIR-UK All Hands 2019

The annual ELIXIR-UK All Hands brings together people working at ELIXIR-UK consortium member institutions for this two-day meeting, which for 2019 is hosted by University of Dundee.

  • 09 Dec -
  • 10 Dec
  • 2019
  • Science

Software Carpentry Workshop January 2020

Our goal is to help scientists become more productive by teaching them basic computing skills like program design, version control, testing and task automation.

  • 21 Jan -
  • 22 Jan
  • 2020
  • Scientific training

Data Carpentry Workshop March 2020

Data Carpentry workshops are for any researcher who has data they want to analyse, and no prior computational experience is required. This hands-on workshop teaches basic concepts, skills and tools for working more effectively with data.

  • 03 Mar -
  • 04 Mar
  • 2020
  • Scientific training

Feature | 5 min READ

Biology’s Dark Matter: the unseen life with a huge impact


Animals, plants and fungi are mere branches among the thousands that branch off the tree of life. At EI, we’re exploring the less explored of those boughs, where the vast diversity of life exists - among the protists.

  • 16 September 2019
  • Learning

Quick read | 3 min READ

Saving the spectacled bear of deepest, darkest Colombia


It’s not a lack of marmalade sandwiches that threatens the spectacled bear, but fragmented habitats that have seen populations of South America’s only bear species decline. How will science at Earlham Institute help us to protect this elusive species?

  • 10 September 2019
  • Learning

Feature | 5 min READ

Barney Bee is buzzing for Norwich Science Festival


Last year we brought you the award winning Pink Pigeon trail. This year we’re going even bigger, with an exploration of pollinators, food & health.

  • 06 September 2019
  • Learning

Quick read | 5 min READ

Python for biologists: the code of bioinformatics


The increasing necessity to process big data and develop algorithms in all fields of science mean that programming is becoming an essential skill for scientists, with Python the language of choice for the majority of bioinformaticians.

  • 03 September 2019
  • Technology

Feature | 8 min READ

10 surprising things you might not know about evolution


Evolution. There’s much more to it than is commonly understood.

  • 30 August 2019
  • Learning

Feature | 5 min READ

We're ten years old: leading the field in decoding complex, non-human genomes


Ten ways our expertise has led the way in how we decode complex, non-human genomes.

  • 21 August 2019
  • Learning

Head of Communications

Salary range: Starting salary £49,540 - £60,430
(pro-rata for a part-time appointment)

Opening date 22 August 2019

Closing date 22 September 2019

View details

  • Impact story

Global food security

Our wide-ranging research into animal, plant and microbial genomics helps us improve crop breeding, withstand disease and enhance yields for future generations.

Read the full story