Edinburgh Incubator Programme to help drive Cancer Research Projects
Having announced the renewal of its partnership with the University of Edinburgh’s flagship Venture Builder Incubator, Cancer Research Horizons, the innovation engine of Cancer Research UK, is to sponsor ten places for cancer-related research projects from across the UK on a 16-week programme supporting PhD students and early career researchers in developing their business ideas, building skills and securing funding.
Following the collaboration’s inception in 2021, eight companies operating in the field of cancer were selected as start-ups for the Venture Builder incubator and this year’s programme also aims to accelerate commercialisation of ideas aimed at conquering the disease in some of its many forms. Previous cohorts have seen considerable success, attracting £1.8m in funding in the last 12 months.
Laura Bernal, Venture Builder Incubator Programme Manager, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Cancer Research Horizons again this year. Our Incubator programme is designed to help fledgling entrepreneurs across all sectors
of business build their skills and take their businesses to the next level and through continuing to build our relationship with the brilliant team at Cancer Research Horizons, we can ensure that we are supporting the commercialisation of vital research across 10 cancer-related projects this year.”
The Venture Builder Incubator is delivered by the Bayes Centre, the University of Edinburgh’s world-leading innovation hub for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, on behalf of the University’s five Data- Driven Innovation Hubs; and Edinburgh Innovations, the commercialisation service of the University.
Dr Alessia Errico, Associate Director of Search and Evaluation, also Entrepreneurial Programmes Lead at Cancer Research Horizon said: “We want to inspire the next generation of scientific entrepreneurs in the field of cancer research as well as inspiring cultural change within the industry, so working alongside Edinburgh University and their Data Driven Innovation programme provides us with the perfect platform to do this. Supporting entrepreneurs on the journey from an ideation to venture creation
is one of the most important things that we can do, so we are excited about what this next year will bring.”
Start-ups for the Incubator are chosen after an application process which is open to PhD students, early career researchers and academic staff from the University of Edinburgh or Heriot-Watt University, as well as early career researchers focused on cancer-related projects from across the UK.
Each start-up is provided with £2,000 as well as business support through a series of workshops, networking events, mentoring, peer-to-peer learnings and access to the University of Edinburgh’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and its data expertise.
Applications have now opened for the Venture Builder Incubator 3.0. The early bird deadline for applications is Friday 22nd July and those entering before this date are guaranteed application feedback and the chance to resubmit their proposal and an invitation to a Bayes Centre Community Event. The final deadline for applications is Friday 9 September.
Alessia Errico
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HPC Wales boosted by £2 million European funding
At an event highlighting the impact of research enabled by High Performance Computing (HPC) in Wales, data experts, technology suppliers and policymakers gathered at the University of Cardiff’s new Abacws building, heard Economy Minister Vaughan Gething MS announce the provision of a further European Regional Development Fund of £2 million to support HPC facilities and software engineering teams across all four Supercomputing Wales (SCW) universities: Cardiff, Swansea, Aberystwyth and Bangor. Available through the Welsh Government this has brought the total funding to £11.9 million for the period 2015-2022, with University partner investment topping up the programme value to £19.6 million.
Minister Gething said: “Research, science, and technology has never been more important in tackling the major global problems of our time. A perfect example of this is Supercomputing’s invaluable work during the global pandemic in modelling the spread of COVID-19 in Wales and sequencing COVID-19 genomes. Supercomputing Wales is more than just computing infrastructure – it is an important community of research software engineers, technical staff and researchers working to achieve substantial outcomes for science, our universities and for Wales.
Economy Minister Vaughan Gething MS
“High Performance Computing and software engineering will play a vital role in both academic and industrial research over the course of the next decade. The Welsh Government is proud to support Supercomputing Wales in its quest to build research expertise in data gathering and analysis. This will benefit the economy, public services, education and health care, helping improve our future well-being and tackle
some of the major global problems of our time.”
Professor Roger Whitaker, Academic Director of Supercomputing Wales and Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Enterprise at Cardiff University, said: “We were delighted to welcome a diverse range of delegates and speakers to our showcase, including Economy Minister Vaughan Gething. Large- scale data is now abundant, and the event set out to celebrate the role of HPC and software engineering in helping to process, analyse and understand data that shapes innovation landscape in Wales, the UK and beyond.”
Guest speakers also included Professor Mark Wilkinson, Director of DiRAC which provides distributed HPC services to the Science and Technology Facilities Council theory community. Mike Gravenor, Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at Swansea University’s Institute of Life Science and Dr Anna Price, a Research Software Engineer in Cardiff’s School of Biosciences focused on the role played by Supercomputing Wales in data analysis to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Infection Centre celebrates Key Development Milestone
A new multi-million-pound infection generation centre operated jointly by Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and iiCON: Infection Innovation Consortium, has celebrated a ‘topping out’ ceremony marking a key phase in completion of refurbishment of the building located in the heart of Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter.
Delivered by main contractor Kier, development of the Pembroke House centre involves the external façade being retained while internal works are being developed into an attractive, contemporary space with immersive and experiential technologies at its core. The ceremonial laying of the building’s final brick was carried out by iiCON’s founding Director Janet Hemingway, and LSTM’s Director, David Lalloo.
At the ceremony Professor David Lalloo said: “Pembroke House responds to a growing need for a step-change in training to equip health professionals to deal with the global health challenges of the future. The new centre will support impactful global partnerships with multiple stakeholders in teaching and research and enhance LSTM’s educational collaboration with overseas partners and students by linking learning on-campus in Liverpool into a world-class, globally connected digital learning environment. It’s exciting to
be ‘topping out’ the building and laying the final brick and we look forward to officially launching the building as we celebrate LSTM’s 125th anniversary next year.”
Professor Janet Hemingway said: “It’s great to see such good progress being made on the refurbishment of Pembroke House and we’re delighted to be marking this key development milestone. “Once open, the centre will support and super-charge infection innovation by bringing together industry, academia, and our regional community in world-class facilities and providing industry partners with a dedicated space to enable high-quality training, networking, and partnering – supporting pioneering collaborative innovation.”
Sean Fenner, regional director for Kier Construction North & Scotland, said: “We’re pleased and proud to be marking this milestone in the refurbishment of Pembroke House. This development will breathe new life into this beautiful historic building in Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter, carefully retaining the external façade while creating a state-of-the-art centre where innovation and learning thrives. We’re delighted to be working closely with the team at LSTM and iiCON on this important project for the Liverpool City Region.”
Funding was provided by the Liverpool City Region Pembroke House topping out ceremony
Combined Authority (LCRCA), with generous donations from leading philanthropic organisations including The Garfield Weston Foundation and Lord Leverhulme’s Charitable Trust.
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