St George’s has a successful track record of innovation and knowledge exchange with a dedicated team of experts available to manage and advise on a range of different industry related project.
We have a successful consultancy programme where our academic and clinical experts share their knowledge and expertise with a partner organisation, which can be either industry or third sector. We also have a number of successful collaborative research projects with key industry partners where the partners have access to our experts and specialist facilities to help them develop a new product that also further an academic research field.
St George’s has recently recruited a new Enterprise and Innovation Team, led by Dr Ambalika Batra, who all have different experience and expertise in aspects relating to knowledge exchange. Ranging from experts in management and protection of intellectual property through to start-up management and entrepreneurship we are equipped to advise and guide our researchers to generate the most impact from their research.
About Open 4 Business
The Open 4 Business Initiative, launched in 2022, aims to structure a plethora of programmes and partnerships under one banner with the ultimate aim of engaging with industry partners.
Open 4 Business (O4B) has 4 main objectives, which are:
- Growing with our local community
- Building internal capacity
- Strengthening our SME partners
- Powering collaborative innovation.
Under each of these objectives we have a number of initiatives which are set out below.
» Growing with our local community
St George's, University of London is part of the BIG South London Partnership as the only medical school in South London.
- We are working with Wandsworth and Richmond Borough Council to link into their new workspaces across the borough.
» Building internal capacity
New team, new strategy.
- Updated processes and policies and refreshed pages on our website for ease of access.
- Workshop programmes, targeted to needs of our Institutes.
» Strengthening our SME Partners
SME Innovation Vouchers
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The St George’s SME Innovation Vouchers are specifically designed to promote collaborative innovation between St George’s University of London and UK-based Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), enabling SMEs to harness St George’s academic and clinical expertise as well as our specialist facilities to help them innovate, develop and grow.
Vouchers can be used toward the cost of collaborative projects, including access to University and Hospital facilities, researchers and clinicians.
An SME Innovation Voucher will grant the successful enterprise an award between £5000 and £20000 and cover specific University and Hospital project costs.
Successful SME applicants will contribute an equal value in cash or in kind (e.g. staff time, materials or equipment) or a combination of both to any project funded by the award of an SME voucher.
In choosing to work with St George's, SMEs will gain:
- Access to expert researchers and clinicians, establishing new contacts within the thriving intellectual and medical networks of St George's University of London and NHS Trust.
- Access to the latest specialist technology and equipment, as well as novel methodologies and our field-leading research institutes.
- Access to our well-connected South London campus and its facilities.
To apply for an SME Innovation Voucher the following criteria must be bet:
- Industry partner must be a UK based SME[1]
- SME must contribute in cash or in kind to the project
- Project idea must lead to SME innovation and growth
- Project must involve specialist facilities or expertise not otherwise available to the SME
- SME partner must demonstrate a desire to build an ongoing relationship with St George’s
References
[1] SME (Small and medium sized enterprise) – defined as having less than 250 employees and less than £50 million turnover
Applications for the SME Innovation Vouchers are now open for projects with an end of date on or before Friday 12th July 2024. If you believe your project does not fit within this timeframe, please contact a member of the Enterprise team.
To ensure the most impact from the projects only applications supported by an academic partner will be accepted for review.
Download the application form (Word).
Please note that funding is limited and we reserve the right to close the scheme early if demand is high and all funds have been allocated.
To discuss your business needs and potential areas of collaboration please contact Howard Duffy at enterprise@sgul.ac.uk and we will guide you through the application process.
» Powering collaborative innovation
Concept Development Award
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The St George’s Concept Development Awards aim to facilitate the transformation of research into practical applications, with a focus on commercialisation.
The objectives of the awards are to enhance both societal and economic impact from the related research. Eligible projects may involve:
- Prototype development and advancement of technology to the next stage.
- Conducting feasibility studies to demonstrate the viability of a concept in industrial settings.
- Promoting industry engagement, such as organizing showcase events to introduce research or academic groups to the business sector, or supporting short secondments to and from business.
- Value of grants will be determined based on the merit of the application but cannot exceed £30k
- Funding will provide 100% of direct project costs
- Applications must clearly define timelines and milestones
- Projects must commence within 3 months of the award being issued
- All projects must be completed by 31st July of the following year
The funding is not intended to support:
- Early stage “blue skies” research
- Bridging support for staff of PhD students
- Continuation of research grants
- Projects that have already failed in a competitive grant application (without clear justification)
- Any St George’s researcher that holds a contract with SGUL or SGUL and SGHT (but not SGHT alone) which extends to the end or beyond the proposed project
- Multi-disciplinary proposals and those with external collaborations are strongly encouraged
- Project must be approved by Institute
Projects will be assessed by a cross-institutional Enterprise Awards Panel. The assessment will be based on:
- Strength of rationale for the project
- Quality of science
- Un-met medical need
- Future commercial opportunity
- IP position
- Likelihood of project leading to the development of a proposal for further translational funding
- Industry involvement
We are committed to transparency through the decision-making process. Any panel member who has a conflict of interest on any submitted project will be asked to declare it, and will not offer opinion on or take part in the awarding process for that project.
Applications for the 2024 round of the Concept Development Awards are now open. The deadline for first submission is Monday 22nd April at Midnight.
Applicants are advised to arrange a meeting with the Enterprise and Innovation Team on the week commencing 18th March 2024 to discuss project eligibility.
The application process will be spread across 2 rounds. Applicants will be asked to submit an initial application for review by the Enterprise and Innovation Team who will provide a first round of feedback before submission to the second round.
A panel of internal and external peers will review applications in the second round and applicants will be asked to pitch their projects to the panel.
Please complete the application form (Word) and return it to enterprise@sgul.ac.uk with the email subject heading "CDA Application".
For further information regarding deadlines or to discuss potential applications please contact Howard Duffy at enterprise@sgul.ac.uk.