The Pirbright Institute’s commitment to openness on animal research has been rewarded with continued recognition from Understanding Animal Research (UAR).
The three-year reaccreditation of the Institute as a Leader in Openness to 2028 marks the third renewal of the award for Pirbright (2019-2022; 2022-2025 and now 2025-2028).
The award recognises the Institute’s commitment to the UAR Concordat on Openness on Animal Research in the UK which has been signed by 133 UK life science organisations.
Today (14 May 2025) marks the 11th anniversary of the Concordat on Openness - a set of commitments to help organisations enhance their animal research communications.
Pledges include being clear about when, how, and why animals are used in research, improving communication with media and the public about using these animals, providing opportunities for the public to find out about animals in research, and reporting yearly on progress.
Leaders in Openness status was established in 2019 to recognise Concordat on Openness signatories who go beyond compliance with the Concordat to promote best practice.
Helen Watts, Director of Director of Finance and Company Secretary at Pirbright said: “I am delighted our commitment to openness has been recognised for three more years. The renewal of the award is down to the hard work of our scientific community and supporting services, particularly our Animal Services team, who champion our use of animals in research openly and transparently.
We strive to apply the principles of 3Rs (reduce, refine and replace) in our research where possible, but to test vaccines and discover more about how immunological systems respond to viral infection we have to use animals. We publish detailed information on our use of animals on our website."
As part of its application for the award, the Institute introduced several new initiatives from 2022-2025 including publishing project licences’ non-technical summaries on its website and hosting two days of discovery, interaction and celebration which included a ‘Family & Friends Day’ and attracted over 800 visitors.
UAR is the UK’s only dedicated animal research advocacy organisation. A not-for-profit organisation funded by more than 150 life science organisations, UAR includes the UK’s top ten universities for life science, research institutions, research funders and charities, pharmaceutical companies, learned societies, and government agencies.
