The Royal Society Enterprise Fund

Case Studies

The Royal Society has a track record in supporting innovation through its courses for research fellows, Industry Fellowships and its Mercer Awards for Feasibility and Innovation. Below you can find short case studies of previous winners who have successfully commercialised their work with our help or are in the process of doing so.

Professor Adel Sharif, University of Surrey and Modern Water Plc

Dr Adel SharifDesalination and water purification technology developed by Professor Adel Sharif won him a Royal Society Brian Mercer Award for Innovation in 2005. This technology has now been brought to market with the admission of Modern Water PLC to the London Stock Exchange’s international market for smaller growing companies. The listing raised £30 million on its initial public offering, giving the company a market value of £70m.


Professor Donal Bradley and Dr John de Mello, Imperial College

Professor Donal Bradley and Dr John de Mello, Imperial College were awarded the Brian Mercer Award for Innovation in 2006 to exploit their research into the low-cost potential of plastic electronics to create new manufacturing techniques.

The Enterprise Fund is a natural extension of the Royal Society’s innovation programmes and the Royal Society is in a unique position to identify and calibrate the best early stage research with commercial potential.

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