In this edition of ScienceScope, centre stage goes to some of our recent RDI activities in chemicals, mining and manufacturing. Read about the establishment of an industrial biocatalysis hub that will put microorganisms at the heart of processes to produce chemical products (page 8); how learning factories are becoming an intervention to prepare the workforce of the future (page 16); and how we will work with a large mining house on the use of additive manufacturing technology to support its operations