27 June 2012
Researchers enter The Crucible
Civic Reception: 6.15pm, Thursday June 28th,
Discovery Point, Dundee.
The next generation of leading researchers in Scotland will gather in Dundee over the next two days for a major workshop on Knowledge Exchange and Commercialisation.
Scottish Crucible@Dundee will see 31 talented researchers from across Scotland come together to explore and enhance their innovative capacity, with a series of talks and presentations from senior academics.
Among those presenting at the event are Professor Pete Downes, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University, Philip Long, Director of the V&A at Dundee, Professor John Connell, Vice-Principal for Research at the University of Dundee, and Professor Sue Black, Director of the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification.
Professor Connell said, "Research-based innovation offers the best opportunity for Scotland to grow its economy in the current economic climate. To realise this potential, researchers in Higher Education institutes need to understand how to work in partnership with small and medium sized enterprises and larger commercial entities to develop their outputs effectively.
"Scottish Crucible provides a very important role in providing focused support for early career researchers across Scotland to benefit from best practice and contribute to the future development of sustainable growth in Scotland. The University of Dundee is delighted to host this event and share the lessons learned from successes in knowledge transfer and research commercialisation. Health and life sciences, space technology and design provide good examples of how this approach has led to mutual benefit for the university and the wider economy."
Delegates will be welcomed to the city at a civic reception hosted by Lord Provost Bob Duncan at Discovery Point at 6.15pm on Thursday June 28th.
Scottish Crucible is the professional and personal leadership and development programme developed by NESTA, the independent charity with a mission to help people and organisations bring great ideas to life.
The theme of Crucible at Dundee is Knowledge Exchange and Commercialisation with an aim to help the participants further understand the context of research and knowledge exchange and inspire them to engage more with industrial partners and the general public through hearing the success stories from Dundee.
The programme includes a site visit to the Drug Discovery Unit in the College of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee.
The event will be led by a highly knowledgeable facilitator, Dr Kevin Byron, who himself brings a wealth of experience from industry and whose recent publications include "The Creative Researcher" and "The Alchemy of Innovation".
In the four years since its launch, Scottish Crucible has encouraged Scotland's promising researchers to collaborate across disciplines and established itself as an innovative way of empowering participants and adding value to their institutions.
For more information on Scottish Crucible see: www.hw.ac.uk/scottishcrucible.
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 |
