The NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) has funds available to support Postdoctoral Enterprise Fellowships for internal candidates within the University of Southampton/University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust Partnership. 

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Scheme Outline

 

The funds will be used to support the salary of the successful applicant for up to one year, to facilitate applications for enterprise and translation activities and industrial funding.

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These awards are expected to allow applicants to prepare competitive bids for enterprise activities and/or industrial funding relevant to their research experience, which would then support the applicant beyond the funded period. 

 

Fellowship activities should focus on gaining external support to the applicant beyond the funded period. The enterprise fellowship period will be used to conduct activities dedicated to translational activities, to developing commercialisation plans and, where essential, to generate data focussed on enterprise activity, all of which should focus on strengthening applications for external support. Fellowships can also be used to support ongoing industrial partnerships whilst external funding is secured.

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Industrial partners range from large companies (e.g. pharmaceutical companies) and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) in sectors relevant to BRC research.

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Enterprise activities include broader knowledge exchange towards commercial and socio-economic impact creation, with an emphasis on translation of biomedical research into patient and healthcare system benefits.

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Relevant activities ensure external partners benefit from BRC expertise. These activities include:

• understanding markets, towards product development

• close work with industrial and/or clinical stakeholders to understand innovation pathways

• IP protection

• spinout business planning

• dissemination activities (e.g. trade fair or industrial conferences)

 

Enterprise funding opportunities that fellows can target include:

• commercialisation accelerators and communities (e.g. ICURe, Future Worlds)

• translational funding such as:

  • NIHR (e.g. Invention for Innovation (i4i) Programme)

  • Innovate UK (e.g. Collaborative R&D)

  • Horizon 2020

• individual fellowships (e.g. Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellowships)

• industry-funded research

• private investors (e.g. business angels or venture capital)

 

All successful awardees are expected to be active in making enterprise or industrial applications during their award.

 

Clinicians

 

If the applicant has a clinical background, it may be possible to combine this award with clinical commitments/training. However, applicants will need to have secured permission to be released from the appropriate UHS Clinical Division and considered their position beyond the end of BRC support.

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Consumables and Training

 

There is no provision for the cost of consumables or training in the Enterprise Fellowships. Please provide details of how these costs will be met in the relevant section of the application form (if applicable).​

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Themes

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In this round, the topic of the planned research application must be aligned with the following BRC Theme research priorities and accompanying SMART Objectives or planned future experimental theme work:​

 

• Microbiology, Infection & Immunology (MII)

Topics involving more than one Theme are encouraged. The proposed fellowships must fit within the NIHR and BRC remit, with particular emphasis on experimental medicine which does not include animal research. Theme Research Strategy and SMART objectives can be found here.

 

Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the Theme Leads to discuss their projects before making an application, to ensure project alignment.

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Theme Leads:

• Data Health and Society: Wendy Hall (wh@ecs.soton.ac.uk)

• Microbiology, Immunology and Infection: Robert C Read (r.c.read@soton.ac.uk) and Saul Faust (s.faust@soton.ac.uk)

• Nutrition Lifestyle and Metabolism: Jonathan Swann (J.Swann@soton.ac.uk) and Keith Godfrey (kmg@mrc.soton.ac.uk)

• Perioperative and Critical Care: Michael Grocott (mike.grocott@soton.ac.uk) and Denny Levett (d.levett@soton.ac.uk)

• Respiratory and Allergy: Graham Roberts (g.c.roberts@soton.ac.uk) and Thomas Wilkinson (t.wilkinson@soton.ac.uk)

 

Theme  Academic Career Development Leads:

• Data Health and Society: Al Edwards (A.D.Edwards@soton.ac.uk)

• Microbiology, Immunology and Infection: Al Edwards (A.D.Edwards@soton.ac.uk)

• Nutrition Lifestyle and Metabolism: Mark Johnson (m.johnson@soton.ac.uk)

• Perioperative and Critical Care: Karl Staples (K.Staples@soton.ac.uk)

• Respiratory and Allergy: Karl Staples (K.Staples@soton.ac.uk)

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Application Criteria

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Candidates whose proposed research programmes align with the scientific programmes of the BRC are eligible to apply for these enterprise bridging funds.

 

Applicants must already hold an MD / PhD or have recently submitted their doctoral thesis (in this case appointment is subject to successful award).  

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NIHR criteria state fellowships must be awarded following a competitive process. 

 

To apply, please send the following to BRC-applications@uhs.nhs.uk by 12:00, 6th September 2024:

 

• Postdoctoral Enterprise Fellowship application form with all sections completed and word limits respected. Please use this version of the form. The timeline/GANTT chart can be submitted as a separate document if necessary.

 

• A summary CV (max two sides of A4, size 11 font). The CV should contain basic information about education, employment history, current source of funding, job plan and academic responsibilities, as well as a list of the most relevant publications from the last five years.

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Applicants will be notified of outcomes by late September.

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For further information, please contact Prof Karl Staples at k.staples@soton.ac.uk. 
 

 

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