YES wins in Knowledge Exchange Awards
Left to right : Professor Hardev Singh, Professor Simon Mosey, Dr Hannah Noke and Tracey Hassall-Jones
In The University of Nottingham Knowledge Exchange and Impact Awards for 2016, the YES team won the social science category for the Scheme’s two decades of entrepreneurship training for doctoral researchers.
The Award recognises Professor Simon Mosey, Dr Hannah Noke and Tracey Hassall-Jones in the Faculty of Social Sciences for providing a unique learning experience for thousands of early-career PhD researchers.
For participants, the competition expands horizons and initiates changes in attitude and behaviour in a way many might never have experienced before
says Professor Simon Mosey, Director of the Haydn Green Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at The University of Nottingham, who leads the programme.
Working with expert mentors they develop new business ideas using breakthrough science to address societal challenges. For me and the team, who have designed, organised and delivered these competitions over many years, it's fantastic to see how past participants' careers progress and how positively they speak of the impact of the unique YES learning experience.
Over the last 20 years over 5,000 researchers have taken part in this ‘family’ of competitions, contributing to their skillsets, developing their outlook and career prospects. Strong partnerships have been formed between The University of Nottingham’s Haydn Green Institute, the BBSRC as co-organisers together with NERC and MRC, leading companies across several sectors and the vast majority of UK universities.
Led by Biotechnology YES and Environment YES, the Young Entrepreneurs Scheme, competitions expanded internationally and into different industry sectors. Teams from the USA and India have participated with the support of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Engineers now run their own scheme too.
Tracey Hassall-Jones, who has coordinated the competitions since 1997, said:
This is an exciting and important time for the YES programme. Every £1 of Research Council funding has been matched by £2.89 from other sources, and from this year we’re striving to be even more financially self-sustaining by attracting investment from sponsors.
We estimate that in the past 20 years, YES has contributed to an economic impact through salaries alone of over £1.8 billion. The ideas, innovation and entrepreneurial activity of past participants will generate even greater impact.