Cancer Research UK has announced a £10,000 sponsorship to support Cambridge Judge Business School’s Entrepreneurship Centre education programmes as part of their UK’s Entrepreneurial Programmes Initiative designed to promote an entrepreneurial culture amongst cancer researchers in the UK.
The UK’s Entrepreneurial Programmes Innitiative aims to promote the development of new business ventures within academia by providing researchers with the guidance and tools to translate their research.
Benedict Conway, Entrepreneurial Programmes Manager at Cancer Research UK, said: “Our ambition is for three out of four patients diagnosed with cancer to survive the disease by 2034. To help achieve this, we’re supporting researchers to accelerate the translation of their ideas and discoveries into products that will improve the lives of cancer patients.”
Dr Rebecca Myers, Head of Education, and Dr Ghina Halabi, EnterpriseTECH Programme Manager, at the Cambridge Judge Entrepreneurship Centre commented, “this generous sponsorship will help us extend the reach of our entrepreneurship education programmes. For life-science and clinical academics, the journey from discovery to product can be arduous. This collaboration with Cancer Research UK demonstrates our commitment to facilitate the commercialisation of research by driving entrepreneurship among cancer researchers, PhD students and postdocs, as well as fostering connections between the University of Cambridge and the wider UK oncology network. This support will help us continue to play a vital role in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Cambridge and nationally for the benefit of academia, industry and our wider society.”
Tony Hickson, Chief Business Officer at Cancer Research UK, said: “The skills required to translate academic research into real-world solutions are vital for improving the lives of cancer patients, but becoming an entrepreneur isn’t always easy or straightforward. That’s why we want to support researchers the best we can by partnering with organisations like Cambridge Judge Business School, giving them the skills and confidence to develop their ideas from bench to bedside.”
As part of the sponsorship, the funding will support the Centre’s EnterpriseTECH programme to help oncology researchers kickstart their entrepreneurial ambitions. The programme provides PhD students and postdocs with the skills, infrastructure and support to develop their own business ideas in the future. The programme offers a real-world learning experience at the interface of research and the start-up world. Students develop valuable entrepreneurial skills with our blend of intensive lectures and workshops and practical application to a real project.
Applications are open for EnterpriseTECH Postgraduate (PG) II until 22 January. With this funding, we will be able offer part-scholarships for oncology researchers across the UK. We also invite project proposals from inventors from across the cancer research network.