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Award for University Enterprise Fellowship programme

A pioneering University programme set up to support the translation of research into business ideas has won an award in a top national competition for knowledge exchange (KE).

The University of York Enterprise Fellowship Programme won the Internal KE Initiative of the Year award at the PraxisAuril KE Awards.

The awards, sponsored by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), celebrate the contribution of knowledge exchange (KE) professionals in enabling and facilitating the societal and economic impact of research.

Dr David McBeth, Director of Research and Enterprise at York said: “This award underlines the value of equipping our researchers with the best possible training and support enabling them to maximise opportunities for successful external engagement, knowledge exchange - and ultimately, impact.

“We intend to build on the early success of York’s Enterprise Fellowship programme to cement a culture in which external engagement, enterprise and world class research are synonymous.”

York’s one-year fellowship programme provides time and support for researchers from all disciplines to develop their ideas, enhance commercial awareness and develop skills for enterprise and external engagement.

The support includes one-to-one expert mentoring and tailored modules to help develop the fellows, their teams and their ideas.

Current York fellows are working on a range of projects including the use of computer modelling to identify how problem additives can be extracted from plastic and the development of a tablet-based test to diagnose early stage Alzheimer’s Disease.

Amanda Selvaratnam, Head of Enterprise Services at York, was shortlisted in the Knowledge Exchange (KE) Volunteer of the Year award.

The awards were presented at the 2019 PraxisAuril conference in Harrogate on 13 June.


Left to right: Karen Clegg, Research Excellence Training Team (RETT); Vanessa Bayley, ViaDynamic; Rukmal Abeysekera, Business Development Team at the PraxisAuril KE Awards ceremony in Harrogate.

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