Growing industrial collaborations, fostering more entrepreneurship and creating successful companies, will be the focus of a £6 million initiative.

Growing industrial collaborations, fostering more entrepreneurship and creating successful companies, will be some of the outcomes following a £6 million initiative at Imperial College London, which was announced today.

Imperial has received funds from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) as part of a nation-wide scheme to increase the conversion rate of research into potential commercial ventures and enable new partnerships with industry. The College received the largest Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) award, under a scheme that sees 31 universities sharing a total investment of £60 million.

Building on past success at Imperial, the IAA will fund a range of activities including secondments both for scientists and engineers to spend time in a business environment and for practitioners from industry and commerce to spend time in the College.

Early stage support to progress translation and development of impact beyond the end of a research grant will also be targeted via proof-of-concept studies, marketing assessments, industry and user engagement events and promotion of consultancy activities involving strategic groupings of researchers. The IAA will further enhance the knowledge and skills of Imperial academics and give them a better idea of the way companies operate and the challenges they face, encouraging more staff to engage in activities to exploit their research.

Professor Donal Bradley (left), Pro Rector for Research at Imperial, says: “Imperial is renowned both for world-class fundamental research and for the translation of this research for the benefit of society and the economy.  Our overarching objective for this investment is to ensure that valuable research outcomes from EPSRC funded research are brought to the point where informed decisions can be made about commercial potential. We consider that such de-risking of research exploitation is an essential first step to realising its potential economic impact, and the activities we will be supporting are therefore designed to address the critical early stages of the innovation chain and seed engagement with end users.”

Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, adds: “This investment I'm announcing today will help our leading universities become centres of innovation and entrepreneurship, generating commercial success to fuel growth.”

Professor David Delpy, EPSRC Chief Executive, concludes: “The research we support is recognised as outstanding on the international stage. These Accounts aim to make a step change in the impact that has on society: generating new business opportunities that drive economic growth, creating better, more informed, public policy.”

Other Imperial projects to be carried out as part of the IAA include an industry sector focussed communications plan to promote opportunities for new collaborations and  highlight successful outcomes of past collaborations; a mentoring scheme to foster the entrepreneurial spirit and technology foresight conferences .