through the creation of world changing research and high quality, inspirational teaching within an inclusive academic culture. Enterprise Strategy to 2015 www.le.ac.uk The Enterprising University 2 UNI VERSI TY OF LEI CESTER ENTERPRI SE STRATEGY TO 2015 Vision Our over-riding vision is to be recognised as one of the leading UK universities for innovation and enterprise development and supportive enterprise culture. Enhancing our reputation and progressing key performance metrics will be central to realising this vision. Enterprise at Leicester We take a wide-ranging holistic approach in dening enterprise at Leicester. To us, enterprise covers our portfolio of outward facing activities that draw on and, in turn, enrich our core mission of research and teaching. While some of these activities generate income (especially those audited under the Higher Education Innovation Fund HEIF), there are a number of knowledge exchange activities that do not yield direct economic returns but are nevertheless as critical, helping to develop relationships and deliver sustainable benets to the wider society what might be termed social enterprise. Consequently, enterprise activities are diverse, ranging from knowledge exchange, knowledge transfer and the commercialisation of research, to skills enhancement and community engagement more broadly. These varied strands are linked in their ability to catalyse the ows of knowledge between the university, businesses, society and policy makers. Enterprise at the University of Leicester capitalises on both our high quality, world-changing research and inspirational learning and teaching, in order to deliver economic and social benets to our graduates, the University, our external partners and beyond. Equally, it not only draws upon our research and teaching, but also serves to support them through the generation of important new streams of research funding and by improving the employability of graduates. Thus, the impact of enterprise activities is circular and reciprocal. In recent years, the importance of enterprise and innovation has signicantly increased internally, with growing acknowledgement of the pivotal role it plays in legitimising and growing higher education, and delivering impact. External drivers, such as the Research Excellence Framework, have equally added impetus to our efforts to reap greater benets from our knowledge exchange and enterprise activities. Leicesters unique combination of excellence with accessibility and respect for individual endeavour has gained it widespread recognition, nationally and internationally. A key element of our strategy is the development and sustainability of an internal culture that encourages, supports and builds Leicesters unique combination of excellence with accessibility and respect for individual endeavour has gained it widespread recognition, nationally and internationally.
UNI VERSI TY OF LEI CESTER ENTERPRI SE STRATEGY TO 2015 3
Professor Sir Robert Burgess Vice-Chancellor The External Environment Enterprise is outward looking, and depends on strong reciprocal relationships, so the external environment, at local, regional, national and international levels, is vital. The national level is the most important, with the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) systems and funding (HEIF and HEBCIS the Higher Education Business and Community Interaction Survey) now a key feature in our environment. The increasing strength of the Technology Strategy Board and the developing enterprise agenda of the Research Councils are also important trends. The Impact element of the Research Excellence Framework is an important inuence on all our research departments and the European Union, and its alignment with national agendas, as a source of support, is of increasing importance. The new Horizon 2020, replacing Framework 7, will be larger and more targeted, with a strong emphasis on R&D as a driver for economic success and job creation. It is important that we are responsive to these changes and work positively and constructively in collaboration to take full advantage of new opportunities as they emerge, and where possible, help inform strategic thinking and direction. further the capacity for our staff and students to be entrepreneurial and innovative in a variety of contexts. Indeed, our ability to nurture and develop such a culture underpins the very success of our enterprise strategy. Essential to its success is staff commitment to take forward the enterprise agenda. We also have a moral responsibility to prepare our students effectively by instilling a spirit of enterprise and related key competencies to enhance their entrepreneurship skills and employability. Enterprise at the University of Leicester capitalises on both our high quality, world-changing research and inspirational learning and teaching, in order to deliver economic and social benets to our graduates, the University, our external partners and beyond.
Professor Sir Robert Burgess meets with Professor Andy Abbott
who is involved in a joint venture company (Scionix Ltd.) between the Department of Chemistry and Genacys Ltd. p 4 UNI VERSI TY OF LEI CESTER ENTERPRI SE STRATEGY TO 2015 This three-year strategy thus has the following key objectives: 1. Firmly establish ourselves as one of the leading UK universities in enterprise and innovation within a supportive enterprise culture. This will match our position as a leader in teaching and research; 2. Create a culture in which staff and students understand and actively embrace enterprise in the broadest sense; 3. Build and enhance strategic and delivery relationships with other leading universities, industry and public sector organisations, including governmental agencies and other stakeholders, to generate income and create collaborative long term partnerships; 4. Fully harness the potential of knowledge transfer (KT) and knowledge exchange (KE) to maximise the social, cultural and economic impact of our world-class research; 5. Continue to grow enterprise awareness and competencies in our student community to enhance its entrepreneurship skills and employability; 6. Enhance the skills and capabilities of our partners through provision of accessible and excellent continuing professional development training for business, responding to regional demands and aligning our provision to developing workforce needs; 7. Effectively promote our achievements and capabilities in enterprise to enhance our reputation as a centre of innovation and excellence and a trusted part of the local, regional, national and international landscapes. Our Strategy It is within this context that we develop and nesse our enterprise strategy. Through this strategy, we seek to consolidate our efforts so far, provide a clear focus for the future, and rmly embed an enterprising culture amongst our staff and student community so as to maximise our potential to exploit emerging opportunities in the new landscape. UNI VERSI TY OF LEI CESTER ENTERPRI SE STRATEGY TO 2015 5 On the major measures of excellence in teaching and research, Leicester is clearly one of the top twenty universities in the UK. This is a position that the University intends to maintain and improve upon. We now aspire to be equally excellent at enterprise. We have identied some challenging initial goals, and some metrics against which achievement and progress can be measured. An important task will be to agree across the University on the aspects of enterprise on which we can and will become excellent. Obviously, the guidance of local, regional, national and international stakeholders will strongly inuence the direction we choose to take. Building long-term infrastructure on the basis of our current strengths will be the greatest priority. We have great strengths in a number of areas, including space research, medicine and bio-informatics, and further growth in these will bring disproportionate benets. We also need to build the physical infrastructure of enterprise, potentially through an innovation centre, a business germinator and a science park, and we aim to assist in the planning, to encourage their nal implementation. Finally we must develop our enterprise personnel, in the Colleges and centrally in the Enterprise and Business Development Ofce. While not ignoring shorter-term opportunities, it is persistence in growing these major strengths that will bring the greatest benets. Firmly establish ourselves as one of the leading UK universities in enterprise and innovation within a supportive enterprise culture. This will match our position as a leader in teaching and research. 1 In this document, we set out in detail our ambitions and plans against each of our objectives David Simms (Leicester Mercury Business Section) speaking at a recent Enterprise and Business Development Innovation Partnerships Showcase event. u 6 UNI VERSI TY OF LEI CESTER ENTERPRI SE STRATEGY TO 2015 Integral to the outward-facing ambitions of this strategy is the infusion of an enterprising culture within the University a culture that builds capacity and supports researchers to actively assess opportunities for the commercial and social applications of knowledge, and to engage more broadly with the public. To draw the most out of our high-impact research, enterprise must establish a higher prole and greater visibility internally, and staff members need to be supported with practical advice and guidance, as well as reward and recognition. In recent years the University has moved towards a more devolved academic structure, with the new college structure creating greater opportunities for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research and teaching. Academics have further been encouraged to organise into research themes to strengthen cohesion and build critical mass in areas of particular strength. Such cross-cutting themes encourage the interdisciplinary working that our public and private sector partners so value. The Enterprise and Business Development Ofce have responded by aligning enterprise professionals closely with the college structure in order to be more responsive to emerging needs, respecting the diversity of requirements while playing a key role in developing and promoting wider collaborations and innovative ways of working. A number of recent efforts have yielded promising results. For instance, an increase in the return of consultancy revenue to academics resulted in a signicant increase in consultancy activity. Enterprise activity is to be a criterion to be recognised by promotion panels, alongside research and teaching. We will improve communication to staff of the recognition and compensation opportunities available to enterprising staff. We will also step up our awareness-raising and training efforts to bring to staff a avour of what being enterprising looks like in different contexts and disciplines, and develop skills, capabilities and capacities in line with requirements. While the enterprise agenda has steadily gained more ground with the academic and support community at Leicester, there is still work to be done to embed it in the thinking and culture of this University. The following potential activities would contribute towards this: Raise the prole of enterprise by holding enterprise events, drawing on current partners and stakeholders, and opening the doors more widely to targeted potential partners and collaborators; Showcase successful enterprise activities and enterprising individuals so staff and students have a clearer idea of what can be achieved. This will be done through production and dissemination of case histories, demonstrations, awards and events; Create a culture in which staff and students understand and actively embrace enterprise in the broadest sense. 2 UNI VERSI TY OF LEI CESTER ENTERPRI SE STRATEGY TO 2015 7 The University helped Jim Willis, Bulb MD, Bulb Studios develop the mobile app CrowdLab. t The Universitys archaeology unit, ULAS, at work. t Acknowledge, celebrate and reward success in enterprise through amending promotions criteria, and offering more staff incentive schemes; Wherever possible, align enterprise activities so they contribute to and enhance the impact plans of academics and units of assessment in the Research Excellence Framework exercise; Create incentives for academics to collaborate in research with other research establishments as well as industry, including academic secondments into industry; Build capacity so that staff and students have the opportunity to engage with enterprise through activities designed to create, add value and promote innovation; Create opportunities for students to learn about business and enterprise, and improve their employability; Develop a pool of enterprise mentors specialising in particular areas (spin- outs, consultancy, the myriad forms of knowledge exchange, knowledge transfer, public engagement etc.). Experts in these areas can be hard to nd, so our initial target is a panel of 20 who are capable and enthusiastic to help. The University of Leicester is a world leader in research to safeguard bananas one of the most important crops in the developing world from an army of deadly viruses, bacteria, insects and fungi. Professor Heslop- Harrison works closely with the Global Musa Genomics Consortium (GMGC) and receives regular funding from various international agencies. u 8 UNI VERSI TY OF LEI CESTER ENTERPRI SE STRATEGY TO 2015 Build and enhance strategic and delivery relationships with other leading universities, industry and public sector organisations, including governmental agencies and other stakeholders, to generate income and create collaborative long term partnerships. As a part publicly-funded university, we have a responsibility to make our research, expertise and facilities available to business and external organisations. Our priority here is to move from transactional to more strategic, well-embedded relationships that are closely aligned with our research strengths and values. These relationships will draw on the strengths of the different colleges and the different thematic research groupings. However, we recognise the challenge this poses in the current economic environment, and our aim will be to put in place extra resources to better manage and negotiate these partnerships. We are building a portfolio of industry partners across the range of our research strengths. To further consolidate and grow our successful partnerships, the University needs to be engaged with and recognised, validated and championed by critical organisations and partners including the UK government, the Technology Strategy Board, regional and national industry trade bodies, respected multinational businesses, UK Trade and Investment, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and Local Enterprise Partnerships. Ongoing projects such as Innovation Partnerships have shown how modest levels of investment and incentives can engage both academics and ambitious Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to work together for mutual benet while growing strategic partners of the future. We will continue to support existing and develop new SME engagement schemes and explore new routes to reach this customer base (e.g. through business intermediaries and social media). Even more importantly, as a leading national university, rather than just a regional or local player, we place great emphasis on developing our relationships with major international companies, especially in the pharmaceutical, aerospace and IT sectors. Services to external organisations full a valuable role in generating income but also introduce these organisations to our expertise and the value that the University and its members can deliver. We will continue to grow our established consultancy and promote our analytical services. Our priority will be to have a variety of exible and bespoke offerings which may take multiple forms ranging from student projects and internships, skill development for employers and research-led activities, all of which will be made available through a one-stop shop. Key steps which would strengthen our collaborative and partnership arrangements are: Identify areas for targeted development through discussion and wide consultation with internal and external stakeholders, including the potential users and beneciaries of research; 3 A Scanning Electron Microscopy image of a needle and thread at x65 magnication. Peter Bond / Science Photo Library UNI VERSI TY OF LEI CESTER ENTERPRI SE STRATEGY TO 2015 9 Enhance the communication and promotion of our strengths and achievements to ensure that areas of alignment with external partners priorities are highlighted and opportunities exploited; Outline the universitys strategic priorities for partnerships and group membership, informed by robust information on local, regional, national and international activities; Build a portfolio of strategic partnerships with a range of ambitious business enterprises, signicant international organisations, and other local and global institutions; Provide professional support for sustaining and leading strategic relationships and alliances with key national and international partners business and industry, the public sector, user communities, sponsors of research and policy-makers; Play a leading role in dening the contours of enterprise, knowledge exchange and economic and social impact agendas, and be held up as an example of good practice and a leader of innovation; Create and maintain accessibility for businesses, both large and small; Build on successful projects and initiatives in consultancy, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and Innovation Partnerships and look to develop other spin-out company formation where these t with University expertise or an identied strategic gap. The University of Leicester has vast experience in utilising state of the art instrumentation to develop novel analytical solutions for a range of sectors including aerospace, automotive, coatings, construction, conservation, electronics, environment, food, pharmaceuticals and power. u As a part publicly-funded university, we have a responsibility to make our research, expertise and facilities available to business and external organisations.
Neuroscientists at the University of Leicester, in collaboration with
researchers from Poland and Japan, announced the discovery of a critical and previously unknown pathway in the brain that is linked to our response to stress. (An illustration of the structures of the limbic system of the brain, John Bavosi/Science Photo Library). t Sam Ogden / Science Photo Library 10 UNI VERSI TY OF LEI CESTER ENTERPRI SE STRATEGY TO 2015 Fully harness the potential of knowledge transfer (KT) and knowledge exchange (KE) to maximise the social, cultural and economic impact of our world-class research. Knowledge exchange and knowledge transfer encompass all the myriad ways in which tangible and intellectual property, expertise, learning and skills are exchanged and transferred between academia and the non-academic community. It is the visible evidence of the return on public investment in research, and is recognised by government and funders as a signicant driving force for enhancing economic growth and societal well-being. KE and KT work through several channels. The role of students in the process and the role of collaborative researchers are discussed under Objectives 3 and 5 respectively. Other key areas include: Dissemination of research outputs, outreach and more sustained engagement activities including the co-production of knowledge with critical community and other partners; Inuence social or other policy making at a national or international level, through provision of research results and expertise; Consultancy, providing expert advice and training to external clients, who range from small local businesses, household name multinational companies and public sector bodies; Licensing of the right to use specic research outputs. Successful and longer-term licensing arrangements can lead to research collaborations, and we will keep this objective in mind; New enterprises: we have a number of successful business-facing activities and centres including ULAS (University of Leicester Archaeological Services); G-STEP; Innovation Partnerships; RAFT (Real-time Air Fingerprinting Technology) Demonstrator and the Space IDEAS Hub. Some of these business enterprises may have strong social objects, which are as important, or more important, than their nancial returns. Spin-outs: We have a growing portfolio of spin-out companies based on IP generated from our world-class research. We will continue to spin out where appropriate and actively manage the current portfolio to enhance its value. To stimulate Leicester academics to engage with business, there is an attractive compensation scheme in place. Some of our key priorities under this objective will be to: Bridge the gap between research/enterprise and the public through effective and active public engagement, encouraging and supporting dialogue throughout the 4 UNI VERSI TY OF LEI CESTER ENTERPRI SE STRATEGY TO 2015 11 research process and ensuring appropriate public dissemination of the outcomes of research, via a range of media and through the use of new technologies; Establish additional business-facing knowledge transfer centres/Centres of Excellence and activities, where these form a strategic t to University research activities; Identify, incubate and nurture ideas. To identify ideas or research nuggets for commercialisation, engage with academics in a sustained way, evaluating potential and exercising due diligence; Provide practical, timely and active support to enterprising researchers at an institutional level, encouraging a culture of open access and open innovation; Maintain, communicate and enforce IP protection policies across the University and grow our capacity to commercially exploit new inventions through licensing and spin-outs; Establish a proof of concept scheme to accelerate exploitation opportunities, and provide incubation and mentoring support for spin-out businesses. Remove barriers to progress and provide support to the administration of new companies; Maximise the use of enterprise activities and competencies to build research impact demonstrations; Build on expertise from project/research work in developing countries to identify those where Leicester can make a real difference through the transfer of technologies and/or knowledge. RAFT are helping companies identify the volatile organic compounds given off by their products to avoid emission hazards. The technology can be used to ngerprint anything from automative emissions to the ripeness of mangos. Dr Robert Blake ngerprints mangos using a RAFT demonstrator. u It is the visible evidence of the return on public investment in research, and is recognised by government and funders as a signicant driving force for enhancing economic growth and societal well-being.
12 UNI VERSI TY OF LEI CESTER ENTERPRI SE STRATEGY TO 2015
Continue to grow enterprise awareness and competencies in our student community to enhance its entrepreneurship skills and employability. Student and graduate enterprise is an exciting opportunity that taps the enthusiasm and creativity of our students/graduates and delivers the skills and characteristics that employers value, while creating the entrepreneurs of the future. We have a responsibility to equip our graduates with the capabilities to think innovatively and apply their knowledge to changing circumstances and environments. The Universitys Careers Service offers a range of training, mentoring and funded support schemes for students and recent graduates. Initiatives such as PULSE and Enterprise Inc. support graduate business creation. A growing number of student enterprise societies provide a focus for entrepreneurship to ourish, while internship schemes provide valuable opportunities for work and project management experience. We will build on recent successes in student enterprise (such as winning the Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2012 Midlands Business Awards) and strive for increased participation and commercial success amongst our students. We will also seek to provide more links for students with volunteer mentors from the business community, such as through the East Midlands Incubation Network (EMIN). We recognise that not all students will fully engage with entrepreneurial opportunities but still need the enterprise skills and vocabulary to meet the needs of an increasingly competitive career market. Our aim is to move enterprise in its various guises more centrally into our curriculum at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Our overall priorities under this objective are to: Resource and grow student and graduate enterprise and business start-ups; Embed employability and enterprise as a fundamental component of academic provision at all levels; Offer opportunities for understanding and developing enterprising skills through a range of structured and supported opportunities, both within the University and outside, including placements, internships and volunteering; Present a single, coherent message about employability and enterprise to staff, students, parents or guardians, employers and other stakeholders; Use strong relationships developed with employers through other enterprise channels to maximise opportunities for graduate employment; Market staff and student enterprise successes widely. 5 For hard boiled eggs manufacturer Just Egg (Chilled Foods) Ltd, using 1.3m eggs a week meant dumping 480 tonnes of egg shells a year. Together we are turning this waste into a useful new material and saving the company 30,000 a year. u UNI VERSI TY OF LEI CESTER ENTERPRI SE STRATEGY TO 2015 13 Enhance the skills and capabilities of our partners through provision of accessible and excellent continuing professional development training for businesses, responding to regional demands and aligning our provision to developing workforce needs. Our focus here will be on developing an innovative and exible programme of lifelong learning that offers solutions to business critical issues, or will be of interest and benet to our local community and others. These will include both generic professional courses, as well as more sector-specic solutions. High-level skills development programmes often provide a good entry point into organisations that we currently have no engagement with. New technology is already changing the landscape for workplace learning and our prominence in distance learning provides a major opportunity to benet from the new paradigm. We will adapt our delivery of courses to the technological needs of employers and the lifestyle requirements of employees to make our business training accessible to all commercial partners. Our priorities here will be to: Develop a coherent programme of continuing professional development for our partners in business and industry, public and voluntary sectors; Fully exploit new learning technologies to add value and produce exible courses fullling the needs of employers and employees; Identify opportunities to cross-sell other enterprise services. 6 CityScans goal is to work towards improving urban environments by improving the quality of the air we breathe. The regional funding has enabled the University of Leicester to promote the technology to numerous potential partners and customers. u 14 UNI VERSI TY OF LEI CESTER ENTERPRI SE STRATEGY TO 2015 Effectively promote our achievements and capabilities in enterprise to enhance our reputation as a centre of innovation and excellence and a trusted part of the local, regional, national and international landscapes. UK universities have an excellent reputation internationally, but we believe that the University of Leicesters enterprise and research capabilities could be more prominently promoted to further raise its prole on the national and international stage. Enterprise provides a unique and ongoing opportunity to engage with the outside world, drawing in new actors outside our traditional networks. With this strategy, we aim to put in place a number of initiatives to actively market our strengths and successes in order to raise our prole and ensure that we are able to inuence and shape policy development and delivery. Reputation is a powerful marketing tool to showcase our breadth of expertise and build further on our excellence in research, knowledge transfer and student and employer satisfaction. We will shift up a couple of notches in our communication and promotional activities. Internally, we will seek greater coordination between the various departments and central units delivering on the enterprise strategy. Externally, we will develop a customer relations strategy to more effectively reach out to potential customers, share resources and provide a single window entry point to the varied offerings from this university. 7 Professor Kevin Schrer, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) promotes the collaboration between University and Industry, speaking at a recent EBD Innovation Partnerships Showcase event. } UNI VERSI TY OF LEI CESTER ENTERPRI SE STRATEGY TO 2015 15 Our priorities here are to: Actively seek additional good news stories and promotional opportunities, based on the link between excellent research and enterprise impact; Raise university prole for enterprise and entrepreneurship through engagement with industry networks and sponsorship; Allow for greater collaboration and facilitation internally between central units and University colleges and departments to share knowledge and resources to deliver to the ambitions set out in the enterprise strategy; Provide a smooth, efcient, one- stop-shop through the Enterprise and Business Development Ofce for external customers; Increase and strategise participation in local, regional and national enterprise structures; Engage and lead on national and international enterprise-related initiatives. Working with HealthSTATS International we developed pioneering new technology that will revolutionise blood pressure measurement for the rst time in over 100 years with huge commercial potential. } This was printed by Print Services, University of Leicester, using vegetable based inks on FSC certied stock University of Leicester 2013 Leicester LE1 7RH UK www.le.ac.uk 4 6 5 4 _ 0 7 / 1 2