School:Lancaster University

[[Category: |Universities]]

[[Category: |Universities]]Promoting student innovation and entrepreneurship:

Encouraging faculty innovation and entrepreneurship:
Lancaster University places a great deal of emphasis on the real-world impact of its research. As such, university administration encourage faculty members to develop their research further and encourages them to innovate in new areas. However, as of 2018, Lancaster’s main focus for its research impact is the publication of faculty members papers in renowned journals, rather than in creating entrepreneurial ventures of their own following their research. Lancaster currently lacks incentives and reward schemes for faculty members to take a leap with their ideas and create their own enterprises, but the few that are made work closely with the university to maintain they remain at the forefront of their fields, such as Quantum Base Ltd, who are located in the InfoLab21 space on campus.
Actively supporting the university technology transfer function:

Facilitating university-industry collaboration
Lancaster University has several business and mentoring networks that facilitate university-industry collaboration. The Career Mentoring Programme and the Employer Connect Programme, for example, match students to local professionals to get insights into what they do to help students pursue their career goals. Furthermore, Lancaster University has currently 58 people acting as Entrepreneurs in Residence who can give valuable insights into business.

InfoLab21 is Lancaster University's research, development and business centre in Information and Communication Technologies. It collaborates with the United Kingdom Trade & Investment (UKTI), which helps businesses grow and locate in the UK.InfoLab21 provides opportunities for networking and hot desking to meet academics and other businesses for possible collaborations.

cTAP is a new £4 million development that consists of three stories of advanced labs and offices that are exclusively available for businesses to use. 3 full-time academic roles exist within the cTAP administration who are there to assist businesses and companies to use the highly advanced laboratory equipment. They are also there to help understand the exact assistance that a business may require for example spectroscopy, chromatography and thermal testing.

In Lancaster, there are several business office spaces available to rent, for example at the White Cross Business Park. However, the majority does not collaborate with the university which would be very beneficial for students who want to start their own businesses.

The Storey is a center for creative industries that offers engaging events like business conferences, seminars and networking events.The building aims to be a place that inspires forward thinking. At the moment, their learning spaces are specific for graduates and PhD students.

In partnership with Santander Universities, the Lancaster University Enterprise Team offers funding and support for passionate and creative students who want to develop their ideas.
Engaging with regional and local economic development efforts
The Health Innovation Campus (HIC) at Lancaster University is currently in the making and the first phase is due to open in 2019. It will be a place to research and develop innovative solutions while working closely together with the government and policy-makers. The HIC will contribute to the local and national community by supporting job creation and the growth of local businesses, as well as aiming to introduce changes in the health and care systems and the community.