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A message from Professor Sir Stewart Cole,
Chair of Pasteur Foundation UK
This November marked two years since the official launch of Pasteur Foundation UK, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you most warmly for the support, encouragement and enthusiasm you have shown since our establishment.
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Pasteur Foundation UK was established with the words of Louis Pasteur in mind that ‘Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity’. Since 2023, our mission has been to raise awareness of, and support for, ambitious cross-border projects between the Institut Pasteur and leading UK institutions, united in tackling global public health challenges.
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In our first year of operation, thanks to the generosity of our founding donors, we were proud to support the first Pasteur-Oxford PhD student, Will Bolland, during his stay in Oxford. This year, we have built on that early success and were delighted to officially launch a major institutional partnership between the University of Oxford and the Institut Pasteur at a special event at the Institut Français in London this October.
2025 has also been a year of significant new milestones for the Foundation. We continue to expand our Pasteur-UK Young Researcher Mobility Programme, and I am delighted to share that we will now be funding two new UK student placements at the Institut Pasteur in 2026. We will also be awarding our first Pasteur-UK Impact Grant and have already been pleased to support valuable research on the Institut Pasteur campus into irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
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None of this would have been possible without the extraordinary generosity of our donors. Over the past year, the Pasteur Foundation UK donor community has grown significantly. This support not only enables us to award these powerful grants, but also sends a clear and inspiring message: that you believe in the importance of international scientific collaboration. At a time when the world can feel increasingly divided, this shared commitment to cross-border science is deeply encouraging.
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Looking ahead to 2026, we are excited to already have several new donors pledging their support, allowing us to be even more ambitious in what we can achieve together. Our partnership with Oxford continues to strengthen, and we are actively developing similar relationships with other leading UK institutions. Our focus will remain on funding cross-border education, research and exploration aligned with the four strategic axes of the Institut Pasteur.
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In 2025 alone, we were delighted to host and participate in over 20 events in the UK, and we very much look forward to sharing our 2026 programme with you in the New Year.
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We are immensely grateful to everyone who has supported Pasteur Foundation UK in our first two years. With your continued generosity, we can go even further; supporting more young researchers, advancing more vital science, and strengthening the bonds between the UK and the Institut Pasteur.
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In the meantime, I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2026.
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With warm wishes,
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Professor Sir Stewart Cole KCMG FRS
Chair, Pasteur Foundation UK
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Support our Mission
2025 has been a busy year for Pasteur Foundation UK, and we look forward to doing more to promote Franco-British scientific excellent in 2026.
We would be hugely grateful if you considered joining fellow supporters and making a gift to Pasteur Foundation UK to support leading global institutions making a difference to tackle pressing challenges to global public health. You can do this via the link below:
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We have been humbled by the warm support we have received from both sides of the channel this year, which we feel is testament to the value placed on the importance of promoting cross-border research for the betterment of global public health.
Thank you to everyone who has attended an event, followed us on social media, subscribed to our newsletter and donated to the foundation.
On behalf of all of us at Pasteur Foundation UK, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!