Young entrepreneurs invited to unleash their ingenuity

In 23 years, the award-winning YES competitions have enabled over 5,500 UK researchers to understand commercialisation of science and technology.

The YES competition is designed to develop business awareness and an understanding of entrepreneurship in UK postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers. This goal is achieved through a competition in which those participating prepare a business plan for a hypothetical company.

There are themed workshops covering the full spectrum of academic disciplines from the medical and biological sciences to astronomy, physics, chemistry and engineering, social sciences, energy and environmental sciences and the arts and humanities.

This autumn ECRs will develop hypothetical businesses to address industry and societal challenges. The training events are held at innovation centres such as GSK, Manchester, Nottingham, Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst and Syngenta. All speakers, mentors and judges are leading experts in technology-based entrepreneurship.

YES culminates at the Royal Society, London, in December, with teams showcasing their ideas to industry and public sector leaders, and compete for the £10,000 prize fund.

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Dr Dave Hughes, Head of Crop Protection Technology Scouting at Syngenta, said:

“Supporting a culture of enterprise amongst ECRs is vital to our future prosperity. YES is invaluable for inspiring our researchers to become the next generation of leading innovators and entrepreneurs.”

Dr Malcolm Skingle CBE, Director of Academic Liaison at GSK, commented:

“This is a fantastic opportunity for ECRs to learn from those working in industry and to showcase their talent. Pitching ideas and solutions to an influential audience is invaluable experience as they look to take their career to the next level.”

Past participants have gone on to lead spin-out companies, broker multi-national licensing deals, create social enterprises and award-winning outreach programmes. YES has enabled them to realise the potential impact of their research, and nurtured transferrable skills that have had profound impact upon career choices.

Find out more by visiting the YES website and register a team by Friday 15 June (second call deadline).