Mobilising the university-industry community against COVID-19
24 Aug 2020
Alex Stockham, Communications Manager, IN-PART
I’m sure everyone remembers when the realisation hit that COVID-19 was here to stay. The morning when the 2020 AUTM annual conference was cancelled I had my suitcase by the door. With the lockdown imminent, we realised that we needed to do something to support the university-industry community to find solutions, treatments and a vaccine for this new virus.
On the 23rd of March, we launched an open call for research and redeployed our teams. The response was rapid. We received 174 submissions from 61 universities and research institutes across 6 continents, with each submission detailing a new breakthrough or technology being developed by an academic team to stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and to treat COVID-19.
‘University Technology Transfer: What it is and how to do it’ by Tom Hockaday
4 Aug 2020
Tamsin Mann, Director of Policy & Communication, reviews Tom Hockaday's new book on Technology Transfer which draws on his 30-year career in TT at UK universities and on the global TT community stage.
Roughly twenty years since the first HE innovation funding grants were awarded to kick-start ‘third stream’ activity in UK universities, the focus on research and innovation is tight with high expectations of what the research base can deliver by working with external partners. Within today’s broad definition of Knowledge Exchange (KE) there is an ongoing focus on IP commercialisation to license innovation and create new companies, from the ‘white heat’ of blue-sky, discovery research.
Firm Foundations to Rise to Challenges
29 Jul 2020
Authored by: Alice Frost, Director for Knowledge Exchange, Research England and Sean Fielding RTTP, Chair, PraxisAuril
Universities have made long strides in their knowledge exchange (KE), providing knowledge and expertise to help drive innovation, enterprise and local and national growth and wellbeing. These provide the foundations to rise to the challenges set out in the Government’s R&D roadmap, including supporting COVID-19 recovery.
Young Entrepreneurs Scheme
7 Jul 2020
This autumn spend three days immersed in developing enterprise skills; thinking creatively to produce innovative solutions to major challenges; discovering how to communicate research with impact, and working in a team.
Tech Transfer in a Crisis – Reflections from the Front Line
2 Jul 2020
Written by: Dr Adam Stoten RTTP, COO, Oxford University Innovation
2020 started in relatively normal fashion for Oxford University Innovation. The upheaval of Brexit and the general election were behind us – or perhaps at least the most acute psychological trauma – and there were signs that markets and investors were also feeling more positive. While there were some interesting reports of a new virus emerging in China, the prevailing assumption was that it would most likely remain a localised issue and unlikely to ever reach these shores. Nothing to worry about.