The Royal Society announces its third cohort of the Entrepreneur in Residence scheme for 2020

Fifteen entrepreneurs, senior scientists and business leaders have been appointed to the latest intake of the Royal Society Entrepreneurs in Residence scheme.

The recipients have been selected to help UK institutions turn world-leading research into commercial success. The scheme also aims to address skills gaps in industries like energy, transportation and data science by helping to foster an entrepreneurial culture within universities and develop curricula that produce industry-ready graduates.

The successful applicants are funded to spend 20% of their time over two years with their host university and collaborators, sharing their experiences to help mentor and support students and academics. The scheme has now funded 49 placements in 29 universities across the UK since its inception in 2018.

The full list of the newly awarded Entrepreneurs in Residence and their projects is below:

Dr Nessa Carey, University of Oxford

Dr Nessa Carey will work across all the relevant organisations at the University of Oxford to ensure every researcher can access the specialist support they need for creating impact from their work. This will be complemented by building a network of external experts and mentors, who can offer support and guidance at all stages from initial idea to final benefit.

Dr Gareth Crapper, GDC consulting ltd, University of Liverpool

Dr Gareth Crapper will help develop a methodology/roadmap (along with tools and templates) to accelerate the commercialisation of advanced materials technologies arising in the chemistry department at the University of Liverpool. The project is anticipated to collect examples of best practice and embed these tools via a small number of worked case studies through the duration of the award.

Dr Peter Foster, Bioclough Consultants ltd, University of Liverpool

Dr Peter Foster, will use his extensive experience in industry to develop, with the intellectual property commercialisation team, a training package for the commercialisation of life science products tailored to different sectors. A faculty wide training and mentoring programme will be set up to educate entrepreneurial academics using this package. Real life cases will be used to help accelerate those products to market and to provide worked examples to aid other groups. The material will form a lasting reference source for future projects.

Dr Graham Hillier, retired, University of Northumbria at Newcastle

Dr Graham Hillier will work with the University of Northumbria to develop an innovation and entrepreneurship system that can allow it to systematically identify, analyse and implement new business opportunities.

Mrs Virginia Hodge, Heron Associates, University of Southampton

Virginia Hodge will work as a Resident Mentor at Future Worlds, the University of Southampton’s on-campus start-up accelerator, to enhance the support provided to university entrepreneurs; and with the School of Electronics and Computer Science supporting the teaching, learning and research activities of the department through the provision of commercial expertise; acting as an interface to professional bodies such as the Institution of Engineering and Technology; and championing equality and diversity opportunities.

Dr Duncan Holmes, Former GSK, University of Southampton

Dr Duncan Holmes will work with scientists and clinicians, primarily from the School of Experimental and Clinical Sciences, Southampton University, to help identify and support opportunities from basic research that could create potential solutions to benefit patients, through developing a deeper understanding of the drug discovery process and bridging the gap between industry and academia.

Mr Keith Jackson, University of Sheffield

The Sheffield University Automatic Control and Systems Engineering Enterprise and Entrepreneurship module and workshops will guide the students to identify, explore, evaluate, finance, protect, staff and develop their own business ideas using many real examples from the aerospace, automotive and computer science industries. The best concepts will be presented to a business review panel (in the style of the BBC’s Dragon's Den) at the end of the module for potential continuation as a project or business.

In addition to the Royal Society EiR the workshops will include alumni from the university who are in the process of setting up their own businesses who will share their experiences and motivations.

Dr Jean Kennedy, Devenish Nutrition, Queen’s University Belfast

Dr Jean Kennedy will be hosted by the Institute for Global Food Security (IGFS) at Queen’s University, Belfast. She will build on her experience of cutting-edge industrial science, research and innovation through the development of a programme called ‘Adding Value to Food – From Soil to Society’ at IGFS.

Dr Danuta Mossakowska, Former GSK, Babraham Institute

Dr Danuta Mossakowska will work with the Babraham Institute in Cambridge to provide advice, training and mentoring of academic researchers in how to move their early ‘idea’ research to a more practical outcome. This will include forming industrial collaborations as well as helping translate research into Biotech start-ups.

Mr Mujeeb Rahman, SIRIO Business Transformation, Southampton Solent University

Mujeeb Rahman will work to deliver three Accelerator programmes, the ‘Changing Worlds Accelerator’, and help establish the ‘Changing Worlds Centre’ at Solent University. The project aims to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs and build on the transformational impact that the university has on its students.

Dr Alexander Reip, Oxford nanoSystems ltd, Brunel University

Dr Alex Reip will support Brunel University to develop an Open Innovation Approach for collaborative research and a flow of knowledge across organisational boundaries. He will provide advice and design a training programme to create entrepreneurial academics within the university.

Mr Adrian Rowland, Stratigen, Nottingham Trent University

Adrian Rowland will seek to improve commercialisation potential at Nottingham Trent University through a focus on collaboration with technology focused SMEs. Working alongside the University’s Accelerator programme, Adrian will explore such collaborations with the aim of supporting a number of licences, partnerships, and co-developments with suitable industry partners.

Dr Cristina Sargent, Macsim Associates, Imperial College London

Dr Cristina Sargent will develop a programme of seminars and innovation workshops with industry, which will inform the mathematical community at Imperial College about innovation gaps which could benefit from their expertise. The project will foster collaboration projects between the Mathematics Department at Imperial College London, the UK quantum hubs and their industrial partners.

Through links with the quantum hubs industrial partners, the project will also stimulate opportunities for staff and students wishing to become involved in the development of emerging quantum-enabled applications, products and service innovations.

Mr Steven Senior, University of Exeter

Steven Senior will lead the “Engineering Coming Alive" programme, a dynamic process of vision, strategy and leading a team to deliver. Using disruptive thinking techniques Steven will challenge the strategies typically employed, and demonstrate the required high levels of energy, commitment and passion essential for the entrepreneurial process.

Mr Steve Yianni, Eurofina, Cranfield University

Steve Yianni will work with the School of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing at Cranfield University to provide coaching, mentoring and careers advice to students, faculty members and business start-up organisations. He will share his cross-sector experience of achieving commercial success from industry applied Research, Development & Innovation, and will provide guest lectures to promote entrepreneurship at the University.