The Federation aimed to unite the bioscience community over issues of common interest that related to both research and teaching.
It also aimed to influence the formulation of UK policy relating to biosciences, and to promote public debate on ethical issues.
[1] The last president of the Federation was Dame Nancy Rothwell (2006–9); Richard Dyer, former director of the Babraham Institute, was the chief executive officer (2006–9).
It also distributed science policy news to a range of organisations that included universities, research councils, pharmaceutical companies and government bodies.
The Federation hosted several life sciences careers conferences and symposia on issues such as open access publishing.