Over 100 academics, clinicians, business people and public sector representatives came together at an event organised in collaboration with Discovery Park last week, to celebrate the transformation of bright ideas into global opportunities.<\/p>\n
The Collaborative Innovation Showcase, which took place at Discovery Park on 11 January, showcased the outcomes of projects funded by two of UKRI-funded Kent\u2019s Impact Acceleration Accounts (IAAs). It featured an exhibition of over 20 research posters and four Discovery Park businesses \u2013\u00a0Agenda Lifesciences<\/a>,\u00a0DLOC Biosystems<\/a>,\u00a0InCryst<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0York Biosciences<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 were given the opportunity to present their ideas to both academic and clinical researchers in a pitch event introduced by Renos Savva, Head of Innovation at Discovery Park.<\/p>\n The showcase marked 18 months since Kent was awarded \u00a3850k from UKRI\u2019s Impact Acceleration Account scheme, making Kent one of 50 Universities to receive IAA funding. The funding is split across three accounts and can be used to flexibly support a wide range of translational research projects which speed up the transition of research from early discovery to its application in society.<\/p>\n The Medical Research Council (<\/a>MRC) and\u00a0Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council<\/a>\u00a0(BBSRC) IAAs have already funded several flagship \u00a0projects which were showcased by Kent academics at the event:<\/p>\n At the event, MRC IAA lead\u00a0Professor Michelle Garrett<\/a>\u00a0and BBSRC IAA lead\u00a0Professor Tobias von der Haar<\/a>\u00a0provided attendees with an update on the funding opportunities offered by the accounts, including the support available for translational research projects, stakeholder engagement and training.<\/p>\n Professor Michelle Garrett said, \u2018We\u2019re delighted to have been able to collaborate with Discovery Park to highlight the opportunity associated with our Impact Acceleration Accounts amongst the local business community. Providing funding for collaborative innovation is one thing, but it is events like this which accelerate innovation by providing a space for us to identify industry challenges and opportunities, and the research outcomes which can help us respond to them.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Funding applications for the MRC and BBSRC accounts aren\u2019t just open to academics from a STEM background. We particularly encourage those from a social science and humanities background to find out more about them, as there\u2019s always the potential that your research and ideas could be just what we\u2019re looking for.\u2019<\/p>\n Renos Savva, Head of Innovation at Discovery Park, is pleased to have been involved with setting up a group across the two organisations to scout opportunities for commercialisation of IAA research and said, \u2018This event brought together innovative thinkers from companies at Discovery Park and academics and clinicians, promoting discussion on translational research topics ripe for commercialisation. We\u2019re very pleased to have hosted it.\u2019<\/p>\n\n