BU Research Blog

Biotechnology YES is an innovative competition giving early career researchers from diverse backgrounds a practical insight into how to commercialise research and recognise the benefits of industrial collaboration, providing a springboard for their own career development into a multitude of sectors. The competition is delivered in partnership, funded by sponsorship,  draws on expertise from industry and the research community and aims to encourage an entrepreneurial culture in the UK postgraduate and postdoctoral base for the benefit of the UK economy.

The challenge for participants is to prepare an oral business plan presentation, in a team of four or five, for a hypothetical bioscience start-up company seeking equity investment. The plan is based on a plausible idea based on real markets and developed over the course of a three day residential workshop. The workshop encompasses presentations and mentoring sessions from leading figures in industry who give their time and advice for free. It culminates in the presentation of business plans to a panel of ‘equity investors’. These individuals come from industry and academia and have decades of experience and proven track records of professional success. Winners from the regional workshops progress to the final held in December.

Workshop dates will be posted on the Biotechnology YES and BBSRC websites once finalised and and include Syngenta, GSK and Unilever .

The competition is open to all bioscience researchers registered at a UK university not just those funded by BBSRC. However, if any of the workshops oversubscribed, Research Council funded researchers will be given priority.

Find out more and APPLY by visiting www.biotechnologyyes.co.uk or www.environmentyes.org

Biotechnology YES 2016 is open for applications until 27^th May 2016.