The Science Philanthropy Alliance is a community of funders who believe in the importance of basic science research, and who back that belief with significant donations.

Following US government cuts to research and development budgets in 2012, several organisations came together to increase philanthropic support for basic science – from cosmology to genomics to plant biology. Alliance members also act both as champions and advisors to other philanthropists to ensure more private funding is earmarked for the kinds of research initiatives that have led to the scientific, technological and medical breakthroughs that fuel our technology and information-driven economy of the 21st century.

Over recent years, Winton Philanthropies has made several major donations to fund experimental, bold and risk-taking research. These include £20 million to the Winton Fund for the Physics of Sustainability and £5 million to Cancer Research UK, to fund the Winton Bio-informatics Suite at the Francis Crick Institute, Europe’s largest biomedical research centre.

Marc Kastner, president of the Alliance, said “We are thrilled about the continued growth of our membership and in foundations’ interest in giving to basic science. We welcome Winton Philanthropies to our community and look forward to working with them to make their giving to basic science research even more effective.”