Junk the Jargon 2011

Junk the Jargon 2011 is nearly here!

Can you make your research clear and entertaining to a wide audience in only 3 minutes? If you think so, or would just like to try, then enter the competition!

Faculty Heats

Humanities & Social Sciences: Tues 8th Feb, 4pm in Lock-keeper’s Cottage, Mile End

Science & Engineering: Wed 9th Feb, 4pm in People’s Palace LT1, Mile End

Medicine & Dentistry: Thurs 10th Feb, 5pm in Perrin LT, Blizard Building, Whitechapel

The Final

The final will be on Thursday 17th Feb in People’s Palace Lecture Theatre 1 from 5pm. It will be followed by prize-giving and a drinks reception in the People’s Palace foyer. Prizes of £500, £250 and £100 will be awarded for the top three presentations, and there will also be a separate prize awarded based on the audience’s vote.

Judges for the final are:

Prof. Evelyn Welch, Vice-Principal (Research & International Affairs)
Prof. Colin Jones, President of the Royal Historical Society
Nicola Horne from Cancer Research UK
Rhian Harris, Director of the V&A Children’s Museum
A representative from the science communication organisation Guerilla Science

To find out more, or to book a place at one of the faculty heats, please contact Jo Cordy: j.m.cordy@qmul.ac.uk.

Biotechnology YES - 2010

Biotechnology YES is an innovative programme and competition aimed at raising awareness of commercialisation of bioscience research. It is co-organised by the Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the University of Nottingham Institute for Enterprise & Innovation (UNIEI). YES entrants form imaginary companies and bid for funding to commercialise their hypothetical ideas. Through 3-day workshops taking place across the UK this autumn, participants receive training from entrepreneurs, patent lawyers and industry representatives in the business skills necessary to recognise, protect and harness the commercial potential of scientific research outputs.

The culmination of the competition is the preparation and presentation, by each team, of a hypothetical business plan for a new start-up company. The competition is therefore fully in line with the government’s objective of encouraging economic impact and the competition is endorsed by a number of bio-based industries through their sponsorship. In addition, the winning team of the national Biotechnology YES competition will receive a prize of £1000.

Since its launch fifteen years ago, Biotechnology YES has provided entrepreneurial business training for around 3000 researchers from across the UK. A recent independent review of the scheme has highlighted that many former participants found YES to be very influential in developing their careers, with several starting their own companies and many more becoming business professionals within the bioscience sector.

More information can be found at the website. The closing date for entries is June 18th.

This is a really great opportunity for anyone working in the biosciences who is interested in finding out about commercialisation of biotechnology. While I was a PhD students at Leeds I took part in the 2002 (or 2003 maybe) competition. My team attended a local workshop in Edinburgh, where we spent a hectic but amazing few days attending presentations from business and biotech experts, and staying up until all hours putting together our business plan and presentation. We didn't make it through to the final unfortunately, but I learned so much from those few days, both about commercialisation of biotechnology research and about myself and what I am capable of. All in all it was an amazing experience, and one of the most memorable parts of my PhD.

REMINDER - Junk the Jargon - Win £500 for 3 minutes' work!

Junk the Jargon - Win £500 for 3 minutes' work!

Can you communicate your research topic to a broad audience in 3 minutes?

Can you make it interesting, engaging and fun?

Do you want to win £500?!

If you think so, you should enter “Junk the Jargon”, a new competition for PhD students and postdoctoral researchers at Queen Mary.

A competition will be held in each Graduate School in January (details below), and successful participants will go through to the final, held on Wednesday 27^th January, from 5pm. Anyone not participating in the competition is encouraged to come and watch and support the finalists. A drinks reception will be held afterwards.

The final will be judged by a panel of experts, including Prof. Sue Hartley, who is giving the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures this year, and Dr Tiffany Jenkins, Arts & Society director at the Insitute of Ideas (www.instituteofideas.com). Prizes of £500, £250 and £100 will be awarded for the top three presentations.

You can view videos from a similar, national competition (Famelab) to get an idea of what you can do in 3 minutes: Here and here.

If you have any questions, please e-mail Jo Cordy in ESD.

Details of your Graduate School’s heat:

Science & Engineering: Wednesday 13^th Jan, 5pm in Peoples Palace lecture theatre 1.

Humanities & Social Sciences: Wednesday 13^th Jan, 4:15pm, location TBC

School of Medicine & Dentistry: Wednesday 20^th Jan, Perrin lecture theatre, time TBC

Look out for e-mails with more details of the competition in the near future!

Pitch Your Idea 2009 - Photos at last!

The Pitch Your Idea business plan competition final was over a month ago now, on April 8th, but I've finally got photos from it to post here, to give everyone an idea of what the event was like.

Nine finalists pitched their business plans to a panel of six judges whose expertise covered finance, IP, biotechnology and entrepreneurship. Following their pitch, each finalist was grilled for about 15 minutes by the panel - an experience that was described as being nerve-wracking, but much more positive than Dragon's Den! After a long deliberation (that felt even longer to those of us waiting outside) the judges finally settled on a winner - Becky Stewart from Electronic Engineering for her "AudioBlitz" idea. Melissa George from the Physics department and Martin Morrell, also from Electronic Engineering, were awarded runner-up prizes.

Everybody really enjoyed the day, and the feedback from both the judges and the finalists was very positive. The judges were extremely impressed with standards of the ideas and pitches, and the finalists all said how much they appreciated not only the judges questions and advice, but also the confidence and communication skills they had developed through the competition.

Pitch your Idea will be running again next year, probably starting in January 2010, so watch this space if you are interested! A web area will be set up to publicise next year's event, and photos, videos and interviews from this year will be available on that site.

FameLab

FameLab is a competition that aims to find the new faces of UK science, engineering and maths. Entrants must prepare an exciting 3-minute presentation about a scientific topic that will engage a non-scientific audience, and then attend a regional heat (the London one is on 25th April) and present in front of judges. Alternatively you can video your presentation, send it in and have the chance of going straight through to a regional final. Ten finalists picked from the regional finals will win a weekend masterclass in science communication and the opportunity to take part in the FameLab final at the Cheltenham Science Festival in June.

See the website (link above) for more details, and have a go!

If you decide to enter, I would be really interested to hear about your experiences. Please let me know if you're thinking about it - j.m.cordy@qmul.ac.uk.

Biotechnology YES

The Biotechnology YES (Young Entrepreneurs Scheme) is an innovative competition developed to raise awareness of the commercialisation of bioscience ideas among postgraduate students/postdoctoral scientists.

More information can be found here.

In order to enter the competition, you need to form a team of (usually 4-5) PhD students and/or post-docs and develop an imaginary idea that has the potential for commercialisation. As the website says, "Your idea should be based on biotechnology that is realistic, but is currently hypothetical. For example, you could assume for the sake of the competition, as the 2002 winning team did, that a micro-organism has been identified with novel enzymatic activity. Remember that you idea must be believable; you should be able to account for the advances in science needed to develop your imaginary technology."

Local three-day workshops are then held to help you develop your idea into a business plan, and to prepare a presentation to sell your idea to a panel. Two teams from each local workshop are then invited to participate in the final.

The closing date for entries is 17th June, so there's still plenty of time to get thinking of ideas. Local workshops will be held in the autumn, and the final will be held in December.

For anyone working in the biosciences who is interested in finding out about commercialisation of biotechnology, this really is a fantastic opportunity. I took part in the 2002 competition (or 03? Can't quite remember!) while I was doing my PhD, and spent an amazing few days at a local workshop in Edinburgh, attending presentations from business and biotech experts, and staying up until all hours putting together our business plan and presentation. Sadly, my team didn't make it through to the final, but I learned an incredible amount from those few days, both about commercialisation of biotechnology research and about myself and what I am capable of. Plus, it was really great fun, and we got to go to the zoo on the way home. Can't argue with that!

Perspectives - A poster competition with a difference

Do you discuss your science with confidence?

Or is its social impact just a brief sentence at the start of a publication?

Scientists often have to show that they are aware of the social & ethical context of their research. Yet most early-career researchers have little time set aside to consider the social implications of their work.

Perspectives, a poster session with a difference, is a chance for you to discuss your research with a non-specialist audience. Attend an interactive training day – learn about poster design and sharpen your communication skills. Then present your poster at the British Science Festival in September, at the University of Surrey in Guildford. Cash prizes are awarded by a panel of expert judges.

For more information, and to apply online, visit the website.

Business Plan Competition - Montreal

Business Plan Competition

Finalists receive cash prizes, all-expenses paid trips to the Licensing Executives Society (USA & Canada) Spring Meeting on the 5th May 09 in Montreal, world-class mentorship & networking opportunities!

Do you have an interesting business idea with intellectual property and commercial potential?

The Licensing Executives Society are inviting Masters and PhD students from any discipline to apply to their business plan competition.

What you will need to do

Submit a comprehensive business plan with a core intellectual property (IP) licensing component.
Entries are judged on attractiveness of the venture, quality of the product/service offered, market opportunity and investment potential.

What you can win

Finalist teams receive all-expenses paid trips to compete in Montreal at the LES Spring Meeting (5th May 09)
Unique network opportunity with licensing professionals.
The winning team will receive $10,000 and runner-up team will win $1,000.

Deadline 4 March 09. For more details on guidelines visit the LES foundation website.

If you are interested, please contact your Business Manager at Queen Mary Innovations for help with submitting your application.

Pitch Your Idea - Business plan training & competition

The 2009 ‘Pitch Your Idea’ business plan competition and training programme is open to all PhDs and postdocs across the College.

This competition is a great chance for you to gain an insight into the business world and to see if you can turn your ideas into a winning business. Everyone is welcome to participate, regardless of discipline and all you need to have is an idea. Your idea can be anything from your research to a hobby or interest you enjoy. Finalists from last year’s competition started with ideas that ranged from developing computer software that could follow drumbeats, to setting up a martial arts club in the local community.

Whatever your idea, in the competition you will gain valuable training and advice from business professionals on how to develop a short business plan. The competition begins with three workshops (3 hours each) held in January and February 2009. Areas covered will include intellectual property, marketing and sales, routes to market, securing finances and writing business plans. Following these workshops you will have a chance to practise ‘pitching’ your idea and getting some invaluable feedback from professionals. Two advice and networking lunches are scheduled for February-March to allow you to finalise the details of your business idea, by seeking advice from experts and some of last years finalists.

After the training stage is over you will be asked to submit a short business plan, and finalists will be chosen based on these. If you are one of the finalists you will have the opportunity to ‘Pitch Your Idea’ to an expert panel of judges at the finale in April, and be in with a chance to win the top prize of £1500 towards conference travel.

Places on the competition are still available, but the deadline for applying for a place is January 14th 2009. If you would like any more information, please do not hesitate to contact me, or to book a place on the competition just send me an e-mail with your details, and a brief description of your idea. Remember, it doesn’t have to be fully formed at this stage – the training programme will help you develop it into a business plan.