九州影院

Patenting as an output

The University of Aberdeen and TauRx

In 2001, the University of Aberdeen established a joint venture with TauRx Pharmaceuticals. The aim was to investigate the structure and role of tau tangles in the development of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia.

Professor John Storey synthesised and scaled up a drug candidate within the university chemistry department. The compound, based on the compound methylene blue, proved effective against the progress of AD in phase two clinical trials. The research also developed several other promising drug candidates, which have undergone pre-clinical and phase one clinical studies.

TauRx Pharmaceuticals have since produced significant quantities of drug medicines from the intellectual property generated within the chemistry department. These drugs are currently used in clinical trials and for named patient supply.

TauRx has published at least 20 patents as a result of the research, with many of these already granted. The subject matter includes three major categories: proprietary therapeutic agents or methods of synthesising them; diagnostic agents and enabling technologies such as proprietary assays or systems. They make up part of a portfolio of patents and patent applications, including 10 that are co-owned by professor Storey.

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Roles to support collaboration

University College London Translational Research Office

The UCL Translational Research Office (TRO) provides integrated support for translational research, drug discovery and industrial partnerships, across the School of Life and Medical Sciences and wider UCL community. Scientists with experience of working in both industry and academia staff the office. They provide practical help and project management expertise to academics wishing to explore the translational pathway for their research.

The office comprises of three core groups, each offering specialised support and advice: Translational Research Group; Industrial Partnerships Group; and the Drug Discovery Group (DDG). The groups work with colleagues in UCL Enterprise and UCL Business to facilitate the interaction and progression of projects from basic hypotheses to the clinic. They also help to secure external and internal funding streams and manage the growing portfolio of translational projects. The groups lead and manage strategic, long-term and high-value collaborations with industry partners that enhance UCL鈥檚 ability to translate its biomedical research towards patient benefit. 

The DDG provides theoretical and practical expertise to support the progression of selected UCL projects. Established in 2012 and staffed initially by experienced medicinal chemists, the group is expanding and establishing biological assay facilities to support their translational activities. Using the strong industry links established within the group, they enable collaborative activities for UCL academics. These include sourcing compound libraries, facilitating links with other groups and companies, and providing advice on suitable funding sources and grant applications.

The DDG established the Innovative Therapeutics Postdoctoral Training Programme. This is an industry facing two-year programme providing practical research experience through of a series of secondments and projects in academic and industrial drug discovery laboratory environments. Members of the group teach on undergraduate and MSc courses, and contribute to the development of new training approaches.  They lead the current initiative to provide on-line CPD courses focused on innovative therapeutics.

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University-based innovation support

The Organic Materials Innovation Centre

The Organic Materials Innovation Centre (OMIC) is a university innovation centre to support the speciality organic materials and polymer industries. It allows businesses access to knowledge within universities that they can use to innovate and grow. OMIC has an extensive track record of working with chemical using industries and has carried out over 150 projects for over 75 companies with a total project value of more than 拢5m.

The core of the centre is located in the School of 九州影院 at the University of Manchester, with dedicated staff and facilities for collaborative research. Resources available include high quality infrastructure and experienced project leaders for a range of types of project.

Projects may be directly funded, or supported by a wide variety of funding mechanisms. These include; EPSRC funding for longer-term projects addressing fundamental scientific issues; industrial CASE postgraduate studentships and research projects; Innovate UK competitions for feasibility studies and collaborative R&D projects, innovation grants and vouchers; Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) and EU Horizon 2020 competitions.

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Negotiating IP agreements: use of the Lambert Toolkit

The Lambert Working Group

The Lambert Toolkit is a set of guidance documents for universities and companies who wish to enter into a collaborative research project. The toolkit includes model research collaboration agreements for both 1:1 and consortium agreements, a decision guide and guidance documents for both parties.

The Lambert agreements centre around three key areas that cause difficulty in negotiating collaborations. These are the ownership and rights to use the results of the project; the financial and other contributions made by the commercial sponsor; and the university鈥檚 use of the results for academic purposes.

The aim of the toolkit is to ease the process of entering into a research collaboration by facilitating negotiations, reducing the time taken to reach an agreement and providing examples of best practice. However, they do not represent an ideal position for any party. Instead, they offer a starting position to reaching a workable compromise that maximises innovation.

The toolkit was most recently updated in October 2016 with the addition of further model research collaboration agreements, and the guidance was refreshed in line with the latest legislation.

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Postgraduate training in enterprise

The Soft Matter & Functional Interfaces Centre for Doctoral Training

The Soft Matter and Functional Interfaces centre for doctoral training (SOFI-CDT) combines expertise from three universities and from industry with central facilities. It delivers a comprehensive training programme and a wide choice of research projects from across the full range of science. The centre provides post-graduate training in research, enterprise and innovation for future industrial leaders.

SOFI-CDT students receive enterprise-focused, soft skills training and business awareness including communication training and a mini-MBA. Topics covered include project management, finance, marketing, entrepreneurship and research commercialisation. The CDT aims to help students appreciate the business context and multidisciplinary nature of SOFI science and to develop business awareness. The training programme also has a focus on social responsibility in innovation.

PhD projects are inspired by industry and every student in the CDT has the opportunity to gain international experience in a three-month overseas placement. These are either at an international site of one of the industrial partners or within a research group at of one of the SOFI global academic partners.
 
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Staff training in enterprise

The Medici Enterprise Training Programme

BizzInn, an initiative hosted by the University of Birmingham and run by their Enterprise Acceleration team, provides the Medici Enterprise Training Programme. The course aims to help entrepreneurial academics and researchers to exploit the commercial value of their research. The programme has been running for 14 years and has provided training to over 400 attendees from across the country.

The training introduces delegates to a wide range of business areas, giving a better understanding of the business world. This gives them more confidence and awareness when approaching commercialisation of their research. Delegates also go on to use the training to enrich their teaching and research.

The programme explores the various routes available to academics to commercialise their research so they can make the best choices in how to develop their product. The course also covers skills such as networking, dealing with intellectual property, financial skills, marketing and pitching ideas.

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Mentorship for enterprise

The University of Nottingham School of 九州影院 Business Partnership Unit

For more than 12 years the Business partnership unit (BPU) has run a successful Business Science Fellowship (BSF) programme. This scheme enables post-doctoral level chemists to gain training and hands on practical experience of working at the interface between academia and industry. BPU staff mentor the BSFs, who also receive extensive formal training in key business, innovation and entrepreneurship skills.

Recipients of the fellowship typically work on a range of projects selected from the school鈥檚 technology transfer portfolio, which are commercially related. These are often in collaboration with industrial partners. Work ranges from following up industrial queries via patent filing to finalising licensing deals for novel technologies.

Former BSFs have taken up positions within, and are making a significant contribution to, a range of organisations. They continue to support the BPU as visiting and returning speakers.

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Employability skills framework

The University of Reading

The University of Reading embed professional skills for chemists through a stream of specialised modules running vertically through their undergraduate courses.  九州影院 students develop skills that are fundamental to many careers through a problem-based learning approach. They can then use their experiences as anecdotal evidence in job applications and interviews. The 九州影院 Undergraduate Skills Record is used to record these skills.

In year one, students carry out a number of group problem based learning activities. They give presentations, write reports and design a poster to explain how they have completed the task. Students also carry out an IT and numeracy skills based challenge, using teamwork and communication skills. Besides these group tasks there are individual activities, including scientific writing.

Second year training focuses on the chemical industry and careers. Teams of students act out the role of a management group for a chemicals production company. The teams develop skills including pitching proposals, long term strategic planning, business and entrepreneurial skills such as financial planning. Teams then have to defend their plans in an 鈥淎pprentice-style鈥� boardroom interview. Alongside this, the university provides careers support from a Careers Advisor focusing on CV preparation and career planning. This allows the students to see the relevance of the professional skills developed to placement and employment applications.

In the final years, students carry out research projects and draw on their experiences of independent investigative and analytical skills, problem solving, ICT and communication as they write project reports, deliver presentations and attend vivas.

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Using industrial advisory boards

The University of Leeds

Since 2012, the school of chemistry at the University of Leeds has been hosting an Industrial Advisory Board (IAB). The board is composed of an independent Chair and representatives from 10 companies from multiple sectors, drawn largely from Leeds chemistry alumni. The IAB provide advice on embedding transferable skills development in teaching programmes. It meets with department staff twice a year to provide employers鈥� perspectives on teaching and employability.

The IAB are involved in introducing employability skills into the curriculum. They help to identify which skills are most important for specific target sectors and ensure courses deliver and embed all the professional skills that students should develop during their degree.

Module leaders mark which professional skills students develop on a comprehensive mapping document set by the University of Leeds. This forms a large matrix that gives a clear overview of exactly which professional skills are covered in each chemistry unit. The IAB also provides additional opportunities for students, e.g. networking opportunities and bespoke advice on CVs and job application preparation.

Alongside this, a bespoke chemistry alumni LinkedIn group exists to help connect existing students with individuals working within a range of sectors, both scientific and non-scientific. This LinkedIn group now has over 530 members and is used to identify external visitors (e.g. for networking events) as well as future IAB members.

Using alumni networks

The University of Oxford

The University of Oxford鈥檚 department of chemistry set up an Alumni network for all former undergraduates and postgraduates in 2012.  The alumni programme鈥檚 mission is 鈥渢o develop and strengthen ties between our Alumni and the department of chemistry by providing diverse tangible benefits including career services, networking opportunities, special events and lectures, and the opportunity to connect with and inspire students and graduates.鈥� They also aim to 鈥渆ngage Alumni with departmental research and future goals, in order that each individual feels welcome and valued as a member of the Oxford chemistry community.鈥�

Alumni receive regular e-newsletters, which have an open rate over twice the industry standard, as well as , an annual magazine that is sent by post to around 7,500 alumni in October and is also online.  Every year, the department hosts an alumni reception in London. All alumni are invited, and the events have been popular and well-attended, each attracting around 100 guests. The head of the department speaks at the events, and in the past two years these have also featured Oxford chemists as guest speakers including Peter Atkins, Carol Robinson, Andrew Goodwin, Claire Vallance and Tim Donohoe. The department also participates in the annual Oxford Alumni Weekend, offering talks, tours, and a networking/drinks reception. The department has dedicated to alumni, a that alumni are welcome to join, and a popular .  九州影院 alumni are also invited to join the recently established University-wide , and receive College and University communications, e.g.

Connections with alumni have led to the establishment of the for best junior demonstrator, speakers for and IP workshops, sponsorship of Periodic magazine and the provision of workshops and professional advice for students.  In a connection made via 九州影院 alumnus Dr Humphrey Bowen at an alumni event, the Meniere鈥檚 Society has agreed to support a graduate student in Prof Dame Carol Robinson鈥檚 group.  The Oxford-R E Jones Scholarship in 九州影院 was established in 2014 under the Oxford Graduate Matched Funding scheme with the support of alumnus Clara Freeman and her family in combination with a philanthropic donation from the biopharmaceutical company, UCB.

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Knowledge transfer

The Royal Society Industry Fellowships

The Royal Society Industry Fellowships is a grant scheme for knowledge transfer partnerships. They are available to academic scientists who want to work on a collaborative project with industry, or scientists in industry who want to work with a university department or not-for-profit research organisation.

The project aims to enhance knowledge transfer in science and technology between those in industry and those in academia in the UK. The fellowship provides a basic salary for the researcher and a contribution towards research costs. The Royal Society, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and Rolls-Royce plc. currently fund the project.

The grants are for researchers at a stage in their career where they could particularly benefit from establishing or strengthening personal or corporate links between academia and industry as a foundation for long-term collaboration and development.

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Undergraduate industrial placements

九州影院

EnterprisePlus is a dedicated support scheme for chemical science SMEs, run by the 九州影院. As well as business support, the RSC provides opportunities for companies to strengthen links with academic research and provides grants to bring placement students into the company.

The industrial placement grants were introduced to help SMEs to recruit recently trained employees without the prohibitive financial cost. The grants provide up to 拢20,000 to help EnterprisePlus companies to cover the cost of a year-long placement for an undergraduate student to complete their year in industry within the SME. Working in partnership with Cogent, the sector skills agency, students are matched to a company and gain vital experience by working on real industrial projects.

The scheme brings benefits to the companies and the students. Fresh recruits bring new ideas to the company, and the increase in workforce allows the company to expand the range of their projects. The students gain valuable industrial experience for their studies and careers and learn new skills, both in the lab and through exposure to the business side of how a small company operates. Often students return to their placement company to take up a permanent position after completing their degree.

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Funding for technology development

The University of Oxford

The University of Oxford maintains three funds to assist university researchers in transforming good research into good business. They allow university research to develop to the point where it can demonstrate commercial usefulness and secure further investment. The primary focus is the exploitation of science and engineering research outcomes. The university鈥檚 technology and research commercialisation company, Oxford University Innovation, manages the funds.

The University Challenge Seed Fund (UCSF) helps the commercialisation process. It provides funding for activities such as access to managerial skills, securing or enhancing intellectual property, supporting additional R&D, funding construction of prototypes, widening proven applications, preparing business plan covering legal costs and covering costs of external expertise. Oxford鈥檚 UCSF has invested in over 150 projects, with sums ranging from 拢2,500 to 拢250,000. It holds shares in 31 spin-outs which have attracted over 拢110m in total seed and venture capital investment.

The Oxford Invention Fund (OIF) supports maturing projects. It moves them to licensing or spin-out stage by investing in vital experimental data generation, prototyping or other proof-of-concept work. The OIF is supported by private donors wishing to see a return to the University from successful new business ventures. The OIF has raised 拢1.4 million since 2010.

The University of Oxford Isis Funds (UOIF) provide private investors with an opportunity to invest, as part of a blind fund, in early stage technology companies. It also supplies finance to ensure that companies have adequate resources for the initial stages of commercial product development.

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Using higher education innovation funding

The Sheffield Science Gateway

Established in 2011, the Sheffield Science Gateway (SSG) is a project that allows industry to collaborate with the faculty of science at the University of Sheffield. The scheme is supported by Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF), and received a total of 拢1.2M between 2011/12 and 2014/15.

The SSG has a team of trained scientists with business experience in a range of markets. They offer access to extensive industrial and academic networks to help solve science-based problems. They also provide access to funding, specialist facilities and assistance with intellectual property.

The SSG collaborates with multinationals, SMEs, professional bodies, and the third sector and government agencies, regionally, nationally and globally. These collaborations can take many forms, including long and short-term projects, knowledge transfer partnerships, sponsored research and consultancy. People transfer is also available, through secondments, sabbaticals and student placements.

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Cross-sector collaboration

The Pharmacat Consortium

Imperial college established the Pharmacat Consortium in 2006, with industrial partners AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer. The consortium aims to promote and support stronger collaboration between chemistry and chemical engineering. Syngenta and Lilly joined the consortium in 2010.

The consortium identifies strategic areas of importance to pharmaceutical research and manufacturing. The focus is on developing multi-discipline academic/industrial collaborations. Research is based in the area of the catalysis of organic reactions.

The consortium aims to support pre-competitive research in chemical technologies, leading to best routes and processes for the production of pharmaceuticals. This includes incorporating quality-by-design, and improved environmental credentials to lead to greener, more efficient processes.

The research is used as a basis to provide training to ensure the next generation of scientists are comfortable working in collaborations spanning traditional disciplines.

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Finding SME partners

The 九州影院 Innovation Laboratory

The 九州影院 Innovation Laboratory (CIL) is a project part funded by the European Regional Development Fund. It aims to support and strengthen links between the University of Nottingham and chemistry-based SMEs within the East Midlands. The ultimate goal is to increase the number and quality of interactions between businesses and the university sector.

The CIL does this by providing practical support for SMEs. Funding and resources are available to support specific projects with eligible companies. The assistance offered can include: analytical work, feasibility studies, consultancy and literature reviews. CIL can also provide access to specialist skills, knowledge, equipment and new technologies within the University. Funds are available to support short secondments of postgraduate students into eligible companies.

CIL also supports a series of knowledge transfer events. These are aimed at SMEs to keep them informed of key developments in chemical science and analytical capabilities, and help them identify how to apply them to benefit their business.

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Using the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN)

The Knowledge Centre for Materials 九州影院

The Knowledge Centre for Materials 九州影院 (KCMC) combines leading edge academic research facilities with knowledge and expertise in applied materials chemistry. KCMC brings together the universities of Bolton, Liverpool, Bristol, and Manchester with the molecular modelling capabilities of the Science and Technology Facilities Council at Daresbury.

KCMC helps companies to access knowledge from within universities, which may otherwise be inaccessible. The KTN unit covers many sectors, ranging from nanotechnology to the creative industries. This allows KCMC to look for new applications for developing technologies and ensure the right ideas reach their potential. They also bring together collaborations to meet business needs.

KCMC鈥檚 model fosters collaborations between the research base and industry, leading to fresh approaches and delivering products to the marketplace. KCMC is an example of how one unit within the KTN can boost growth across multiple sectors by supporting cross-sector and university-business collaborations.

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Partnerships with consortia

Aston University

Aston University鈥檚 Chemical Engineering and Applied 九州影院 Department (CEAC) is successful in building partnerships with consortia to support collaborative research and knowledge transfer.

The University鈥檚 Research and Enterprise Office identify new collaborative partners and highlight funding opportunities. They work closely with existing company partners to integrate academic activities with the commercial R&D strategies of partner companies. This approach has enabled CEAC to form long-lasting and meaningful partnerships.

The University also operates an account management approach with key strategic partners. This helps the University stand out in a crowded market by ensuring that it is easy for organisations to engage and collaborate. It ensures the University is responsive to organisational needs and both parties achieve the most value out of the partnership. They identify key accounts that have multiple touch points with the University, including small and large, public and private, local, national and international organisations. An account manager is assigned to each company. Their role is to be a point of knowledge of the organisation, collect and share information, spot opportunities and pass them on to the relevant people.

The ability to build relationship with companies across both its teaching and research activities has been crucial to CEACs success. The culture at Aston involves activities at university, departmental and individual levels that ease the development of industrial relationships and encourages sharing of opportunities with our academic staff to maximise the chances of broader relationships developing.

CEAC has been particularly successful in developing consortia-based research projects through InnovateUK and Horizon2020 funding. Notable projects include CASCATBEL and ESTABLIS. Both projects feature EU industry and academic consortia. Aston played a key role in sourcing the industry partners, and ensuring that the proposed research meets the needs of industry, the academic partners and the requirements of the funder.

The CASCATBEL project aims to develop a process for the production of second-generation biofuels in a cost-efficient way. Industry partners in this project were Silkem, a European manufacturer of raw materials; MAST Carbon International, an independent company based in the UK; Outotec, a global leader in minerals and metals processing technology; and Eni 鈥�  a global leader in the energy field. The ESTABLIS project aims to harvest solar energy by employing 15 researchers to create stable organic solar cells. Industry Partners are Merck and Heraeus Precious Metals GmbH&Co.

Engaging with local SMEs

Lancaster University

As part of the development of its new chemistry department, Lancaster University has set up a centre to facilitate knowledge transfer and build close links with local industrial partners.

Match funded through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Collaborative Technology Access Programme (cTAP) is a technology facility that enables businesses to access cutting-edge instrumentation, infrastructure and expertise. Interactions are fostered at all levels from simple one-off analysis/consultancy through to fully-funded research partnerships between an industry client and the chemistry department at Lancaster University.

The facility aims to provide a cost-effective option of engaging with academia for local industry in the North West. There are a significant number of technology-based SMEs in the region involved in products that are either directly related to chemistry or linked to chemistry through associated disciplines such as materials. The initial bid for the ERDF included the REACH Centre 鈥� a chemical regulatory services SME based on the Lancaster University campus 鈥� as an industrial partner for the scheme.

Links to companies are formed through interested companies directly contacting cTAP and through proactive publicity and marketing of the cTAP scheme. This activity is strongly supported by the university鈥檚 Business Partnerships and Enterprise team within the faculty of science and technology, with referrals through the REACH Centre. Lancaster University has also been able to support feasibility studies through its Impact Acceleration Account (funded by the EPSRC), which has already been a rich vehicle through which to initiate research relationships and programmes with industrial partners.

Since its establishment in late 2015, the cTAP has facilitated the department鈥檚 engagement with around 30 SMEs and 20 large companies, with a growing number of funded projects across a range of industries in the North West.

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