It is named after an English chemist Rosalind Franklin, whose discoveries provided the key data for the correct explanation of the helical structure of DNA in 1953.
[2] The government approval was announced on 23 February 2017 by Greg Clark, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
The objective was "to develop disruptive new technologies designed to tackle major challenges in health and life sciences, accelerate the discovery of new treatments for chronic diseases affecting millions of people around the world (such as dementia), and deliver new jobs and long-term growth to the local and UK economies.
"[3] The proposal of the institute was led by Ian Walmsley, Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Oxford, and the project was initiated under the lead of Andrew Livingston, Professor of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London and James H Naismith, Professor of Structural Biology at Oxford University.
[8] The building was opened by Professor Lynn Gladden, Chief Executive of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, which funds the Franklin, and delegates from industry and academia, including Nobel Prize winner Richard Henderson.