By Michele Barbour

Today, I had the pleasure of catching up with Manda Baynes, Innovation Officer at the University of Bristol. She shared insights into her role and the various activities she engages in to foster innovation and enterprise across the university. 

A Day in the Life of an Innovation Officer 

As an Innovation Officer, Manda works on a wide range of enterprise and innovation initiatives. One of her biggest commitments is end-to-end support of the University Enterprise Fellowship and Early Career Enterprise Fellowship schemes, ensuring that prospective and active fellows have access to clear guidance and advice. She is also involved in organising and coordinating activities such as Enterprise Sessions and Masterclasses. Her role has a quantitative, reporting dimension, assisting with the drafting of annual monitoring statements for Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF), and a communications and culture dimension, engaging in internal projects such as the recent “telling stories within DREI”, an initiative to help colleagues better understand the different roles, teams and priorities across a large division. In addition, Manda also currently leads on a UEIC <University Enterprise and Innovation Committee> project exploring and mapping enterprise and innovation training opportunities available for UoB researchers, with the aim to ensure they have the resources and training they need to realise their ambitions. 

“No day is like another, which is what I love,” she says, highlighting the variety and excitement in her job. 

The Joy of Working with People 

One of Manda’s favourite aspects of the role is working with people. She enjoys collaborating with researchers across different faculties and helping them navigate the complexities of University processes. Her previous experience in the School of Chemistry gave her a particularly subject-focussed perspective, and in this role she has enjoyed getting to grips with a much wider range of disciplinary specific needs, allowing her to broaden her perspective and the impact of her work. 

“I am a real people person,” she explains. “Working with the fellowships and seeing the impact we have not just locally but on a larger scale is incredible.” 

Manda particularly helps researchers and Enterprise Fellows understand and navigate University processes, provides a friendly face and a listening ear, and connecting them with the right resources and people. Whether it’s answering logistical questions or linking prospective fellows with current ones, she is there to facilitate and support. 

“I help facilitate processes and provide support,” she says. “Sometimes, I’m just a friendly ear for them to check in with and make sure they know how the various systems and processes work” 

Building a Community 

Manda also emphasises the importance of building a community among the Enterprise Fellows. She encourages current and previous fellows to support one another and those interested in applying for fellowships in the future. Additionally, she organises yearly gatherings where all the fellows can meet, share their work, and discuss challenges and building strong sense of mutual support and enthusiasm. 

“It’s like a mini enterprise community,” she notes. “It’s fabulous to be part of and to encourage.” 

Defining Success 

For Manda, success is seeing the researchers and fellows she supports flourish. Watching their ideas develop into actions and outcomes is really satisfying. 

“Seeing the tangible impact we’re having is really fulfilling,” she says. “It’s exciting to see acorns grow into small saplings – and perhaps, in time, into mighty oaks!” 

What’s next on the Enterprise and Innovation Blog?

Manda and I (plus the rest of our wonderful team) are hard at work gearing up for the Festival of Enterprise later this year, with our Enterprise Roadshows and Masterclasses in full swing across University campus too.

Our University Enterprise Fellows and Early Career Enterprise Fellows are busy too! You’ll be able to hear from them at this year’s Festival of Enterprise, but keep an eye on this blog over the next couple of months as I sit down with them and find out more about what they’re up to and how our schemes are supporting their activities.

Until then!

By Michele Barbour

I am delighted to announce our 2025 Early Career Enterprise Fellowship (ECEF) awards! ECEFs are postgraduate research students (PGRs) who wish to explore the commercial applications of their research, and the scheme provides training, time buyout, resource, and specialist support to help our busy PGRs delve into the intersection of academia and industry.

This is our second cohort of Early Career Enterprise Fellows, following the success of our pilot last year. I couldn’t be prouder of both the successful applicants and all those who applied, and it’s exciting to see the appetite for schemes such as this. Read on to hear more about this year’s ECEFs and their focus areas!

Chimwemwe Miti

Being awarded an opportunity to receive dedicated support to transform a bright research idea into a commercial product is a life-long aspiration. Truly timely, the Early Career Enterprise Fellowship will lay the requisite foundation necessary to explore the digitisation of a much needed NHS service. I look forward to the training and eventual showcase of what will be, as a result of this fantastic fellowship, a commercial-ready product. My supervisor and I are extremely grateful to the panel of judges for the award.

Sutharsanan Navaratnarajah

I am honoured to receive this fellowship to advance my research toward commercialisation. I aim to develop a design workflow as a foundation for an origami-based software tool to create defect-free, foldable composite components.

Weiyi Li

I am deeply honoured to be awarded the Early Career Enterprise Fellowship at the University of Bristol. This opportunity not only recognises the potential impact of my PhD research on surgical training simulators but also provides invaluable support to advance its commercialisation and intellectual property development. Through this fellowship, I aim to develop the engineering prototype and translate my work into practical solutions that address critical needs in medical training, ultimately helping doctors to understand surgical scenario. I am more than excited to participate in the fellowship, discover potential commercialisation opportunities, and contribute to bridging the gap between academic research and real-world applications.

Henry Hickson

I am very excited to have been accepted for the 2025 ECEF scheme! I am looking forward to developing my business skills and learning how to commercialise and apply research to real-world challenges. This will be an exciting step in our journey towards using swarm robotics for good for a whole host of applications.

Ziyu Meng

I am pleased to receive this ECEF opportunity. I have worked in three laboratories during the past seven years and accumulated many lab-work experience. However, I am always curious about how lab-stage technology is ultimately transformed into industrial applications. This project gives me an opportunity to re-examine my topic from the perspective of practical application and explore ways to create actual value. Through this project, I aim to transform my chemistry robotic platform system into a commercial application. I would like to gain essential commercialization knowledge and skills to commercialize it smoothly.

Carolina Gaudenzi 

As a PhD student with an interest in the commercialisation of science, I am very excited for the opportunity to explore the possible applications of my research outside of academia. Organoids are “organs in a dish” derived from human stem cells, and recapitulate many of the complex, dimensional dynamics which cannot be achieved with traditional cell culture. They furnish a revolutionary new medium for the personalisation of medicine, the refinement of disease modelling, as well as the testing of novel therapeutics. I hope that through our work on the optimisation and upscaling of organoid production, we will be able to offer valuable services to both the academic and private biotechnology sector.

Umeir Khan

I am excited to be further developing my skillset and taking a proactive step in engaging with enterprise! By the end of the fellowship, I aim to have (a) gained an understanding as to how I can translate academic research to industry, and (b) apply this knowledge to advance the route to commercialisation for my innovation in composites.

Christopher Yi

I am privileged and grateful to be awarded the Early Career Enterprise Fellowship, which aims to support the commercialisation of ideas generated in our research projects. The ECEF will facilitate my exploration of an innovative concept for room scale air filtration, wherein I will develop a technical demonstrator whilst acquiring a holistic understanding of research commercialisation.

I wish you all every success in your ECEF journeys, and I’m sure I speak for plenty of people across the University when I say we’re looking forward to hearing more about your experiences at the 2025 Festival of Enterprise!

In other news, our 2024/25 University Enterprise Fellows are hard at work exploring commercial applications of their research, and we’ll be announcing our 2025/26 cohort very soon. Watch this space!

By Michele Barbour

It’s not long now before I will be able to announce the University Early Career Enterprise Fellows for 2025. Exciting times!

It seems a great time therefore to share another of our 2024 ECEF stories, this time from our School of Education. Nick Gray, PhD and his colleagues developed a product called Tabletop Travels, which is a box containing sensory experiences that transports the recipient to exotic places. Their target market is older adults, who may be unable to travel themselves. I saw the Tabletop Travels product for myself at the Festival of Enterprise last year and could so easily picture what a lovely experience it would be for people in my own circle who for one reason or another are unable to travel and can suffer from isolation.

When asked how he had found the ECEF experience, Nick commented:

“The ECEF enabled me to understand so much more about the commercial possibilities available to our fledgling social enterprise. With this training and support, I was able to contribute effectively to a marketing strategy that really helped us get Tabletop Travels (https://lnkd.in/eSStZwbu) noticed. This work will stand us in good stead as we take our product to market in the next few months. Even though our multisensory travel box for older adults was something of an outlier among the amazing AI and engineering innovations of the other fellows, I always felt that our business mentors recognised its value. The whole fellowship has give me the impetus to push forward with the commercialisation of our idea and we look forward to our first batch of product going out to customers in the coming months. Thank you to all our business trainers and the other fellows for their encouragement, support and friendship.”

When we talk about academic entrepreneurship we often jump straight to the tech innovation – and with good cause, there is much amazing, exciting and impactful innovation across digital, quantum, AI, life sciences, and other sectors. But we mustn’t forget the impact academic enterprise can have in social enterprise and social value, and Nick and his colleagues’ work is a wonderful example of this.

By chance I processed at graduation last week and who was on the front row but Nick himself! Congratulations on your PhD graduate Dr Gray and looking forward to see what you and the Tabletop Travels team do next.

By Michele Barbour

The Early Career Enterprise Fellowship (ECEF) provides training, time buyout, resource, and specialist support to a postgraduate research student who wishes to explore the commercial applications of their research.

Applications for this academic year’s scheme are now open, and more information including the training offered, time commitments and the application form is available on our ECEF webpage. The scheme, not too dissimilarly to my role, sits at the intersection of innovation and academia. It’s an exciting opportunity to explore the commercialisation of research and pick up skills that will be useful for a future career, academic or otherwise.

Don’t just take my word for it, though.  Following last month’s blog post, I recently caught up with another of our 2023-24 ECEF cohort to hear about their experiences. Read on to find out more, and I hope you’re inspired to consider the Early Career Enterprise Fellowship!

Elena Fillola Mayoral

Elena is a PhD candidate in AI for Climate, and her research revolves around using AI to speed up greenhouse gas emissions reporting and validation. When reflecting on her experiences of our inaugural ECEF scheme, Elena shared these comments.

“Receiving the Early Careers Enterprise Fellowship (ECEF) has provided me with a new perspective on my research, particularly in terms of practical application and scalability. I explored how our system to infer greenhouse gas emissions could be implemented as a cloud-based solution and made accessible to a wide range of users, as well as researched the wider emission monitoring sector to better understand our technology’s role. The training was invaluable to learn more about the commercialisation journey and to define objectives for our potential enterprise. On top of this, I received six months of university-funded incubation support from SetSquared, an exciting opportunity to work with their team and Entrepreneurs in residence to continue shaping our path to deployment!”

We’re so pleased that Elena found the ECEF experience beneficial and are excited to see how her research and entrepreneurial journey continues!

By Michele Barbour

First piloted in 23/24, the Early Career Enterprise Fellowship (ECEF) provides training, time buyout, resource, and specialist support to a postgraduate research student who wishes to explore the commercial applications of their research.

I am very proud of our Early Career Enterprise Fellowship scheme at the University of Bristol. Of course with any new initiative, it’s important to reflect carefully on the outcomes and roll these reflections into future iterations. As such, we are now engaged in seeking feedback from our ECEFs and their doctoral supervisors before we launch for 24/25.

Ahead of the launch of our 24/25 ECEF scheme next week, I spoke to two of this year’s cohort to understand the challenges and opportunities the scheme gave them. Read on to learn more about their experiences, and keep an eye out for the launch of our 24/25 ECEF scheme on the University of Bristol website!

James Uzzell 

James was one of our inaugural Early Career Enterprise Fellows. James, who is a PhD student in Advanced Composites in the EPSRC CoSEM CDT – Composites Science, Engineering and Manufacturing, used his fellowship as a means to advance the Technology Readiness Level of a dynamic induction coil for energy efficient composite manufacturing. When asked about his experiences, James shared:

“The ECEF was a fantastic opportunity that allowed me to shift my focus away from my PhD research and towards exploring the potential for industry application and commercialisation of technology that I had been developing. The time spent thinking about my work outside of a purely academic standpoint helped me to gain a much better perspective on how my research can fit into the larger world. Beyond this, the time spent hearing from and speaking to founders of technical startups within SETsquared was very useful in gaining an insight into what is required to get research from the lab into a commercial enterprise. Since the ECEF we have been able to apply for further research funding, explore IP protection and make wider industrial connections.”

Jennifer Dumle Daniel

Jennifer is a PhD candidate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship and works closely with Dr Lucy Kelly, Associate Professor in Education, on The Diary Toolkit: an innovative initiative to support teachers in the workplace. Looking to scale and commercialise her approach and expand the reach and impact of the Toolkit, Jennifer said of her ECEF experience:

“The ECEF fellowship was a transformative opportunity for me at The Diary Toolkit. It provided crucial insights into commercialising our product and exposed me to successful entrepreneurs, from whom I gained valuable knowledge about scaling our business. On a personal level, the ECEF has connected me with researchers across the wider university network, fostering greater collaboration and potential innovation. The ECEF has been instrumental in shaping both The Diary Toolkit’s business trajectory and my own professional growth. The skills, knowledge, and connections gained through this fellowship have positioned us to make a meaningful impact in the industry while opening doors for exciting research collaborations.”

By Michele Barbour

The University Enterprise Fellowship scheme provide resource, tailored support, and protected time to selected academics for a broad scope of enterprise undertakings that could include a patent, a spinout, a partnership relationship, or a consultancy.

It is with very great pleasure that I announce the University Enterprise Fellows for 24/25!

Our six new University Enterprise Fellows will be using their Fellowships to explore commercialisation of their research outputs and build new networks with industry and investors. You can read more about their plans and aspirations below.

Dr Richard Helyer

I am excited to have been awarded a University Enterprise Fellowship. This will allow me to engage with potential partners to bring our initiatives in using human patient simulation for undergraduate teaching to the wider healthcare education community.

Human patient simulation brought about a step change in healthcare education allowing learners to experience patients, trauma, disease and treatment in a safe environment and at scale. We have extended its use to teaching essential concepts of physiology, such as how the body responds to blood loss, and pharmacology, for example how drugs affect function of organs in the whole body, to early years undergraduates. Our approach has received considerable interest from other institutions and potential commercial partners who agree that improving the understanding of key scientific concepts brings about more effective and safer practice for healthcare professionals. The resources provided by this fellowship will allow me to explore the best direction in which to take our work with potential partners, for the benefit of students everywhere that are our future healthcare scientists and professionals.

Professor Iain Gilchrist

I am overjoyed to be awarded this fellowship. For the last 10 years we have been working on ways to objectively measure, in real time, the responses of audiences to creative content (including film, television and live theatre). We have known for some time that there is significant commercial interest in what we have been doing and this fellowship will give me the time, and focus, to really understand the market for our work and learn about the best way to deliver these new products to commercial partners and customers.

Professor Nicholas Howden

I am delighted to receive this University Enterprise Fellowship, as it will allow me to translate my research into real-world impact. Creating new tools to help solve practical problems is at the core of engineering, and the UEF will provide key support, expertise and industrial contacts to develop such tools.

Dr Robert Sharples

It’s a privilege to join the University Enterprise Fellows this year. I will use the fellowship to develop specialist programmes for international students, making sure that they have the best possible opportunity to thrive at university. I will be working with groups of students around the country, as well as their lecturers and university leaders, to create prototype resources and measure the impact they have on students’ learning and wellbeing.

Dr Rebecca Shepherd

I am thrilled to be awarded the University Enterprise Fellowship.

This opportunity will help me turn my research into real-world applications by setting up a commercial ivory identification service, demonstrating the impact of research beyond academia.

Dr Lucy Cramp

I’m really thrilled to have received this University Enterprise Fellowship. It gives me the opportunity to immerse myself in re-modelling our commercial offering of organic residue analysis at the University of Bristol. This is a complementary approach for reconstructing ancient dietary patterns from molecular traces in pottery vessels that can now be a routine part of the post-excavation toolkit across the heritage sector, from commercial units to museums and independent specialists. I am particularly excited to have the opportunity to integrate this offering with our new, cross-faculty AHRC Centre for Chemical Characterisation in Heritage Science, for which we have just been awarded £1M in funding to establish. From 2026, this will enable users from across the UK heritage community to access our facilities and expertise in mass spectrometric and stable isotope approaches in the heritage sciences.

I’d like to wish the best to all of this year’s University Enterprise Fellows, and I speak for all of us when I say we’re looking forward to hearing more about their experiences!

A Hub of Innovation and Inspiration

The University of Bristol and Bristol Innovations recently hosted the annual Festival of Enterprise, an event that illustrates the interface between research and entrepreneurship. This Festival brought together a diverse group of researchers, postgraduate students, and industry professionals, all eager to explore and celebrate the entrepreneurial applications of academic research. Featuring insightful presentations, dynamic competitions, and plenty of networking opportunities, the Festival highlighted the university’s commitment to fostering an entrepreneurial spirit within its academic and research community.

A Celebration of Research and Entrepreneurship

The event began with a warm welcome from Professor Judith Squires, Deputy
Vice-Chancellor, who set the tone for a day full of innovation and collaboration. The morning sessions, chaired by Prof Ian Bond and Prof Jeremy Tavare, featured presentations from University Enterprise Fellows (UEFs) from both the current and previous academic years, showcasing their cutting-edge projects and entrepreneurial ventures. The presentations highlighted the impressive potential of academic research to address real-world challenges. Dr Joanna Burch-Brown, Dr Paul Clarke, Prof Charl Faul, Dr Frances Giampapa, Dr Paul Golf, Dr Camilla Morelli and Dr Laszlo Talas each spoke with warmth and enthusiasm about their enterprising journeys, showcasing the breadth of what entrepreneurship in academia can entail. Prof Jason Johnson and Dr Andrew Wilson then described the university’s collaboration with Belab1407, illustrating successful pathways from research to market. The focus on practical applications and real-world impact was a recurring theme throughout the day.

PechaKucha Presentations and Awards

The afternoon sessions were particularly engaging, featuring PechaKucha presentations by our early career enterprise fellows (ECEFs) and chaired by Prof Harry Mellor. These concise, fast-paced presentations kept the audience captivated, with each fellow given just a few minutes to present their innovative ideas. The judging panel, Kim Brook of SetSquared Bristol, Alun Williams of Parkwalk Advisors, and Nathan Guest of VWV, evaluated their presentations, and Festival delegates were invited to select the “audience’s choice” prizewinner.

The judges’ choice award went to Rachel Hare, reflecting the impact and engagement of her work on bereavement and the Good Grief project, while the audience’s choice award was given to James Griffith for his exceptional presentation describing innovative technologies to help the aviation industry improve its sustainability credentials. Our other ECEF speakers, Elena Fillola Mayoral, Jennifer Daniel, Dr Grace Pearson, James Uzzell, Kamirul Kamirul, Lingteng Kong and Nicholas Gray were all very highly commended for their thought-provoking and inspiring work.

Networking and Collaboration

Throughout the day, attendees had plenty of opportunity to network and explore the various forms of support available to researchers, emphasizing the university’s role in nurturing early-stage ideas and helping researchers transform them into viable collaborations and businesses.

The Festival of Enterprise was more than just a showcase of research and ideas; it was a celebration of the collaborative spirit that characterises the University of Bristol. By providing a platform for researchers to transform their ideas into impactful enterprises, the university is playing a crucial role in addressing global challenges and contributing to economic growth.

Looking Forward

The success of the Festival of Enterprise is a testament to the University’s dedication to advancing research and innovation. As the university continues to champion entrepreneurial endeavours, I expect to see even more groundbreaking projects and spinouts emerging from our research community. The Festival shone a spotlight on the entrepreneurial potential within academic research, and was a celebration of creativity, innovation, and collaboration, and left everyone looking forward to what next year’s Festival will bring.

By Michele Barbour and Olivia Champion

Following on from the hugely successful visit from beLAB1407 for the Enterprise Roadshow in October, this month the Research Commercialization Team hosted Start Codon. The Enterprise Roadshow Seminar series brings commercialization partners to the University of Bristol to meet with Academics who are engaged in translational research.

Start Codon invest in and support early stage health and life sciences ventures and we heard from Investment Director Michael Salako about role of venture builders in bridging the valley of death when commercializing academic research, and their role in attracting further investment to bring new technology to market. We also heard about the importance of pressure testing your own assumptions, advice that is relevant to us all, but particularly when making assumptions about market fit for technology.

Lunch before the seminar allowed academics, members of the commercialization team and start codon to network, creating a relaxed atmosphere for a vibrant Q&A session after the seminar.

For the next Enterprise Roadshow Event, the Research Commercialisation Team brings ParkWalk to the University of Bristol on 24^th January 2024. Parkwalk is the UK’s most active investor in the university spin-out sector, and currently has over £450m of assets under management. They have invested in over 160 companies across their funds, including funds managed in conjunction with the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial and Bristol.

To learn more about this opportunity and if you would like to join us for the networking event, please contact RED-innovation@bristol.ac.uk

By Michele Barbour and Olivia Champion

It was a full house for the inaugural Enterprise Roadshow seminar and networking event organised by the Research Commercialisation Team on 18^th October 2023. The Enterprise Roadshow brings industry experts to the University of Bristol with an aim to accelerate the translation of research, to maximise impact. The October Enterprise Roadshow event brought beLAB1407 to meet with University of Bristol academics working in drug discovery. BeLAB1407 is a partnership between Bristol Myers Squibb and Evotec, which invests globally in exciting academic research amenable for drug discovery funding. Investment of up to $1.5M is available for commercial screening support in each successful project. As well as a networking lunch and an interesting Q&A session, several academics had one to one meetings with beLAB1407 to present their research and discuss opportunities for commercialisation. Watch this space!

For the next Enterprise Roadshow Event, the Research Commercialisation Team brings Start Codon to the University of Bristol on 7^th November, a start up incubator who invests in early stage science innovations. Please sign up for the event if you are interested in learning more about this opportunity and would like to join us for the networking lunch.

For more information please contact Research Commercialisation Managers Olivia Champion (Olivia.champion@bristol.ac.uk) or Harriet Bray (Harriet.Bray@bristol.ac.uk).