Institute of Biology

The Institute of Biology (IoB) was a professional body for biologists, primarily those working in the United Kingdom. The Institute was founded in 1950 by the Biological Council: the then umbrella body for Britain's many learned biological societies. Its individual membership (as opposed to the individual membership of its affiliates) quickly grew; in the late 1990s it was as high as 16,000 but declined in the early 21st century to 11,000. It received a Royal Charter in 1979 and it held charitable status. The headquarters of the Institute was originally located in Tavistock Square before moving to larger rented accommodation in Queensgate in Kensington, London, near to the Natural History Museum and Imperial College London. It then bought its own property nearby. During the early 1990s it bought the building next door, merging the two. In 2006, it moved to smaller accommodation in Red Lion Court (near the Royal Courts of Justice). The IoB was not a trade union, nor did it have the regulatory power over its membership (like the General Medical Council though it did have the right to remove a member's Chartered status and was empowered by its Royal Charter to represent Britain's profession of biology. During October 2009, the IoB was merged with the Biosciences Federation (BSF) to form the Society of Biology (which through its member organizations can be said to represent some 80,000 life scientists).