25 March 2011

University researchers compete for 'Venture' capital

Event - Monday March 28th, 10.30 am to 3 pm,
Dundee University Incubator unit, Technopole, James Lindsay Place.

Young researchers at the University of Dundee will compete for up to £5000 seed money to turn their ideas into commercial applications next week as the 2011 Venture Programme competition reaches its finale.

The Venture Programme is open to early career and postgraduate researchers at the University and is aimed at those who are interested in developing their research or exploring the commercialisation possibilities for their ideas.

Participants in the programme take part in a series of workshops and mentoring sessions, giving them an insight into how research can lead to business development.

For the final session seven of the successful entrants will be pitching for the top prize of up to £5000 seed money and office space for a year in the University’s Greenhouse Incubator unit, which supports new business start-ups.

Professor Pete Downes, Principal of the University, said, 'I am proud of the enormous contributions this University makes to the economy of the region and of the UK as a whole. I believe we should embed enterprise and entrepreneurism in everything we do from undergraduate teaching, to research and engagement with the commercial sector, across all disciplines.

'It is therefore great to see that our seven finalists coming through the Venture programme of enterprise and innovation training span a range of subjects and disciplines from Art and Design to Medicine, nanotechnology and bioscience.'

Judging of the final session will be carried out by a panel of experts including Scott Carnegie, Chairman at Discovery Investment Fund; Dr Steve Parkes, Director of the Space Technology Centre and spin-out company STAR-Dundee; and John Mackenzie, Company and Economic Development Manager at the University's Research & Innovation Services.

There will also be a talk from Stuart Reid, co-founder of Dynamo Games Ltd, which was started by students from the University and has been supported by the Incubator unit.

The event takes place on Monday March 28th from 10.30 am to 3 pm in the Dundee University Incubator, James Lindsay Place (part of the Dundee Technopole site, to the rear of the Whitehall Theatre).

For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07800 581902