A FORMAL collaboration has been agreed between a number of leading research institutions to work together at a new £103million science centre based in Oxfordshire.

The Rosalind Franklin Institute, a new national centre for research will develop cutting edge technologies for life sciences and will be largely based at Harwell Campus.

Ten universities and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) yesterday formally committed to a partnership to work together at the institute.

Interim academic lead for the institute, Professor Andrew Livingston said: "We are extremely pleased to have reached this important milestone.

"A huge amount of work has been carried out in the background alongside the formal legal agreement, working with industry partners and with our academic colleagues to ensure that the Rosalind Franklin Institute will produce the right technologies to solve challenges in life science which are too complex for one organisation to tackle alone."

The Institute will have its main £40m hub at Harwell Campus, which will house much of the core equipment.

Providing space for 150 researchers, the facility is scheduled to open in 2020 with construction starting in the Autumn.