Podcast: TenU reflects on the next five years
In May, we had the pleasure to reunite all of the TenU members in London. We used the time to meet George Freeman, the Minister for Science, Research and Innovation; discuss successes and challenges with government officials, and share effective practices with new and old friends and colleagues. The following set of three podcasts offers insight into some of the discussions had, with a focus on three areas that will be central during the next five-year phase.
Pictured from left to right: Lesley Millar-Nicholson, Paul Van Dun, Anne Lane, Andy Wilkinson, Simon Hepworth, Karin Immergluck, Diarmuid O’Brien, Euan Robertson and Andrea Taylor.
1. Celebrating university innovation
University innovation has much to celebrate, especially the important contributions to fighting COVID-19, the growth of investment in early stage and scale-up of university spin-outs, and the expansion of international engagement through collaborations such as TenU. Here, TenU calls for a narrative that celebrates university innovation’s many achievements and asks for ways to amplify this narrative.
2. Building ecosystems
Building ecosystems involves involves creating partnerships with local and international stakeholders such as the local community, investors, industry, and government. It also involves building physical spaces to support the commercialisation of research ideas by providing meeting and lab space to attract and nurture talent. Here, TenU presents some of its successes and challenges in ecosystem building and asks how we can deepen already existing connections and expand these for the benefit of the sector as a whole.
3. Developing future leaders
Developing the next generation of tech transfer professionals is key to securing a pipeline of university innovation. This includes newcomers and also talented mid-level professionals ready to take on a leading role. As TenU reaps the rewards of its pilot TenU Future Leaders Programme, a platform for training and exchange, it asks how it can contribute to identifying the next generation of diverse leaders across the sector as a whole.
The podcasts are based on a 90-minute event with high-level professionals from the sector. Andrea Taylor, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Edinburgh Innovations chaired a stellar line-up of distinguished speakers including our special guest, Euan Robertson, CEO of the Simons Foundations, and the directors of Cambridge Enterprise, Imperial Enterprise, KU Leuven Research and Development, Manchester Innovation Factory, MIT Technology Licensing Office, Stanford Office of Technoloy Licensing and UCL Business.
Listen also to the lively Q&As with representatives from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), PraxisAuril, the London Business School, the Royal College of Art, Cancer Research UK, and The Institute of Cancer Research.
The podcasts were produced in collaboration with Global University Venturing and PraxisAuril.
TenU is a transatlantic collaboration formed to capture effective practices in research commercialisation and share these with UK and US governments and higher education communities, in order to increase the societal impact of research. TenU’s members are the technology transfer offices of the University of Cambridge, Columbia University, University of Edinburgh, Imperial College London, KU Leuven, University of Manchester, MIT, University of Oxford, Stanford University, and UCL.
