MVLS Innovation, Engagement and Enterprise Newsletter

The Translational Research Initiative (TRI) would like to bring to your attention the following funding opportunities, seminars, events, workshops and support opportunities.

Funding Opportunities

MRC and BBSRC Impact Accelerator Accounts (IAA) Funding Call - now open!

New funding and support opportunities are available from the Translational Research Initiative (TRI) and funded by UKRI through the MRC and BBSRC Impact Acceleration Accounts (IAAs).

IAA grants are strategic awards aimed at accelerating the translation of discovery research towards impact, by supporting proof-of-concept studies, pump-priming and feasibility studies. IAA awards aim to accelerate development by providing locally administered, responsive and flexible funding to support preliminary translational work. IAA funds can also be used to support market assessment, development of business cases and access to external expertise. In this round, IAA awards may be up to 9 months in duration and all projects must be complete by 31st December 2025.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss their proposal with the Translational Research Officer for your School prior to applying, or to email mvls-innovation@glasgow.ac.uk for general enquiries.

MRC IAA

Development projects up to £50k in value, to support the progression of an innovation along the translational pathway. Development projects may be up to 9 months in duration.
Partnership projects up to £20k in value, to develop new academic and industry interactions and enable knowledge exchange, events, collaborative working and cross-sector skills flow as well as funds towards thematic partnering events and enterprise and/or industry secondments. Partnership projects may be up to 9 months in duration.
Early Concept projects up to £20k in value, to support translational projects at an early stage of development or to generate evidence to support a later stage translational award. These awards are intended to bridge the gap between discovery research and early-stage translation and are suitable for projects that are considered too early stage for a full IAA development award. Early Concept projects can be between 3-4 months in duration.
For more information, please see ourMRC IAA webpage

BBSRC IAA

Development projects and partnership awardscan be up to £20k in value. Projects may be up to 9 months in duration.
Early Concept projects up to £6.5k in value, to support translational projects at an early stage of development or to generate evidence to support a later stage translational award. These awards are intended to bridge the gap between discovery research and early-stage translation and are suitable for projects that are considered too early stage for a full IAA development award. Projects can be between 3-4 months in duration.
For more information, please see our BBSRC IAA webpage.

Please see the links above for further guidance on eligibility and how to apply.

Application forms must be submitted via email to mvls-innovation@glasgow.ac.uk. Please contact the TRI team giving your expression of interest as soon as possible. The team are here to help shape applications at an early stage and to signpost to appropriate support teams, such as the Contracts team and IP & Commercialisation team where necessary, to help ensure that your application meets the requirements necessary for IAA funding.

Closing date for applications: Friday 7th February 2025, 4pm.

Innovation Cluster Development Fund

The Innovation Cluster Development Fund is a new, exciting short-term and time-limited opportunity to provide agile support and resource that can contribute to the next stage in an innovation’s commercial development journey.

This early-stage fund enables staff and projects to focus on the development of innovative ideas that may have potential for a spin-out venture or worthy of exploration through other commercialisation routes.

The Fund will assist project leaders to validate and mature these innovations, identifying gaps that need to be filled in the journey to commercialisation and realising the potential of our new and groundbreaking discoveries.  

The first round of funding is now open to applications with a deadline of 12:00 noon on Monday 3rd February 2025. As this initiative is part-funded by UK Government in partnership with Glasgow City Council, there is a requirement for monies to be allocated by the end of March 2025. All project budgets must be delivered in full by 31st July 2025.

For more information and to apply to this fund, please click here.

MVLS IEE Public Engagement Fund

We are delighted to launch the MVLS IEE Public Engagement Fund 2024-25. This is a rolling call to enable our staff and PhD students to deliver high-quality engagement activities. The award is for a maximum of £500 and is intended to support colleagues who do not have access to other funds for these types of activities. The fund will be open until the 30th June 2025 and all activity must be delivered by 30th November 2025. Further information and instructions on how to apply can be found here.

TayHealthTech Grand Challenges - Call for applications

The Heriot-Watt/Dundee Universities co-led EPSRC Place Based Impact Acceleration Account: “Tay Health Tech” has released a call for proposals to support the translation of research into new health and care technologies. As Professor Sandy Cochran in the James Watt School of Engineering is a partner on Tay Health Tech the call is open to UofG researchers.

Applicants must be able to demonstrate the benefit to and application in the Tayside region. This could be through addressing an issue unique to Tayside, or common to the rest of Scotland or the UK, working with patients in Tayside, collaborating with business and/or industry in Tayside. While we recognise that Medtech for use in the health and social care system has the potential to impact more broadly than just Tayside, for projects to be eligible for this funding the impact in Tayside should be the primary benefit of the outcomes of the project, not secondary. If you have any questions regarding the eligibility of your project, please email TayHealthTech@hw.ac.uk.

Through a series of workshops, Tay Health Tech has identified four Grand Challenges:

Hospital at Home
Rehabilitation and prehabilitation
Testing
Prevention & Prognostics

Funding streams:

Up to £175,000 for projects lasting up to two years - they should be co-developed with end users to demonstrate technical and commercial feasibility. Projects must have proved the technical feasibility and market need for this funding option. Any collaborative partners should provide financial or in-kind support commensurate with the commercial opportunity.
Up to £50,000 for projects lasting up to six months - engagement with diverse patient groups, representative of the whole target population, is expected.

Important Dates:

Tuesday 28th January 2025, 2-3 pm– WEBINAR: potential partners for your project (register here)
Monday 17th February 2025, 1pm– Application deadline

Application process:

Support will be provided to triage proposal ideas, develop proposals or redirect ideas should they not align with the Tay Health Tech call. If you are interested in this call please email the Research Development Team at scieng-funding-news@glasgow.ac.uk indicating which funding stream you are interested in applying to, providing a *very* short description of your project ideas, and identify any partners you may have. We will then be back in touch. Full call details can be found at: Academia – TayHealthTech

GOSH Charity & LifeArc Translational Research Accelerator Grants

Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity (GOSH Charity) is proud to partner with medical research charity LifeArc to deliver our ambitious translational research funding scheme. For the first time, the 2025 call will be open nationally to academic researchers from eligible Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across the United Kingdom.

We are excited to welcome applications for projects on the translational pathway that will improve the prevention, diagnosis, prognosis or treatment of paediatric rare disease. There is a total of £1m available, and from this we expect to award 2-3 high-quality projects with a minimum value of £250k each, for up to three years. For full guidance and information on how to apply, please visit our website. Deadline for applications is Thursday 3rd April 2025, 12 noon.

GOSH Charity and LifeArc will be hosting a webinar to give candidates further information on the call from 12pm-1.30pm on Monday 3rd February 2025 - please register for the webinar here.

SULSA Early Career Development Fund

This funding aims to support researchers in their endeavours to develop their own independent academic research track. The funds can be used for a variety of activities within these categories:

Travel
Training in new techniques/skills
Consumable costs
Facility access

The project must be used to foster collaboration which could fall within following aims:

Building a new academic collaboration (cross-disciplinary, cross-university, international)
Upskilling of the applicant through collaborative training
Generation of pilot data and/or developing a pathway to commercialisation with an external collaborator

You can apply for up to £4,000 and we hope to award a minimum of 5 projects. For more information, please see our website. Application Deadline: Monday 24th February 2025, 5pm. Register now for our Early Career Development Information Session taking place on Thursday 23rd January at 10 - 11 am to learn more about this funding call.

MVLS Job Opportunites

Vacancy: Translational Research Development Manager (Interim)

Innovation, Engagement and Enterprise are a strategic priority for the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences (MVLS) and the Translational Research Initiative (TRI) and remains critical in the growth and development of the College’s translational pipeline. The post holder will be accountable and responsible for the operational delivery of the College Translational Research Initiative (TRI). As part of the College’s wider Industrial Engagement infrastructure, the post holder will drive growth and development of the University’s biomedical and life sciences translational pipeline by providing coordinated access to external partners (e.g., MRC and BBSRC ‘Impact Accelerator Accounts and providing expertise and project management support to maximise probability of success. The post holder will also manage the team, through a revision of College and Institutional Strategy.

For more information and to apply for this position, please visit the UofG's vacancies website (internal candidates) or Find A Job (external candidates). Salary will be Grade 8, £49,250 - £56,921 per annum. This post is full time and fixed term until 30th September 2026. Job reference: 163934.

Closing date for applications: Monday 3rd February 2025, 11.45pm

Informal enquiries may be directed to Louise Mason, Louise.Mason@glasgow.ac.uk.

Events and Workshops

The Academy of Medical Sciences Scotland Cross-Sector Hub Launch Event

The Academy of Medical Sciences Scottish Cross-Sector Hub launch event will take place on 24 January 2025, at Golden Jubilee National Hospital. Under the theme of Engaging with Life Sciences Industry and Entrepreneurship in Scotland it will offer delegates strategic networking opportunities, and in-depth insights into the life sciences industry and entrepreneurship in Scotland. With attendance encouraged across different sectors and disciplines it will also provide scope to identify and engage with potential collaborators from diverse professional backgrounds.

Speakers include: Professor Dame Anna Dominiczak, Chief Scientist (Health) at Scottish Government, and lead for the Hub in Scotland; Professor Andrew Morris, President of The Academy of Medical Sciences President, and former Chief Scientist for Scotland; Professor James Naismith, Vice President (Non-Clinical) of the Academy of Medical Sciences; Mark Cook, co-chair of the Life Sciences Industry Leadership Group in Scotland; Steven Drost, Chief Strategy Officer at CodeBase, and many more.

Further Details and Registration https://buytickets.at/nhsresearchscotland/1502409

Where: Golden Jubilee University National Hospital, Agamemnon St, Clydebank, G81 4DY

When: Friday 24th January 2025, 10am - 2.30pm

WREN presents: Dr. Alexandra Oti, Co-founder of Unravel Health, The Beginning of the Spinout Journey

Dr. Alexandra Oti is a co-founder of Unravel Health, a FemTech company dedicated to addressing the women's health gap. At our upcoming WREN event, she will discuss the challenges and achievements of her journey from trained physician to successful female entrepreneur. We invite you to join us for the next lunchtime WREN event on 30th of January 2025 at 12:30-1:30 at the Advanced Research Centre (ARC, room 237A) at the University of Glasgow. Enjoy a light lunch while networking with peers. Please register for this event here.

Where: Advanced Research Centre (ARC) room 237A, 11 Chapel Ln, Glasgow, G11 6EW

When: Thursday 30th January 2025, 12:30-1.30pm

RISE@UofG: Demystifying the Pitch

We are excited to invite you to our next RISE@UofG event on Monday, 27th January 2025, 4-6pm.

This session on “Demystifying the Pitch” will feature Sarah Hardy (Archangels) and Alex Lusty (Gabriel), alongside other investment experts, who will discuss the funding processes for new and aspiring start-up and spin-out founders at all points on their journey. You will have the chance to ask all the difficult questions and gain valuable insights into navigating the world of investment. The event, co-hosted by members of the university’s entrepreneurial teams, will conclude with a networking reception, including a buffet and beverages, for in-person attendees.

When: Monday 27th January 2025, 4-6 pm

Where: Advanced Research Centre (ARC), Room 237B and online

Booking Link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1110208346049

BioTrinity 2025 - Academic innovation poster call

At OBN (UK), the not-for-profit membership and networking organisation supporting the life sciences industry, we have been increasing our support to academic institutes by providing a convenient and useful link to industry. Our flagship investment and partnering conference, BioTrinity 2025, will be held on 1st and 2nd April, and we are again inviting entrepreneurial academics to join us and submit a poster on your emerging translatable research. Perhaps you’d like to publicise a brand-new spinout to potential industry partners and investors, or receive industry feedback about an idea, or showcase university technology for new out-licensing opportunities?

We’re seeking 30 poster presenters from academia across 2 conference days and will provide a free single-day conference pass to present your research and meet industry professionals. We’ll run the hugely popular 60-second pitch session, to get eyes onto your poster! Can you summarise what’s important about your innovation, in 1 minute?!

A short, 150-word abstract about your innovation and technology and some brief details about yourself are all that is required. If you are interested, or you know someone in your network who might be, please apply, and/or let them know! The submission form is open until Friday 28th February 2025.

For more information, please check out our event website: www.biotrinity.com. Note, you can also attend on the discounted academic delegate pass for the whole event, no poster.

Collections Lab Research Showcase event

On Wednesday 26th February 2025 (tentatively, 10am-3pm), the Collections Lab will be running a research showcase event at Kelvin Hall to highlight the collections-related work going on across the university. This event will follow the five-minute presentation format of previous events in order to allow as many people as possible to introduce their interests. The showcase will provide participants with a snapshot of the range of exciting collections-based research taking place at Glasgow, as well as opportunities for networking and conversation. There will also be lunch and cake!

We'd like to invite any interested Glasgow researchers (from any discipline, college or job family, including PGR and ECR researchers) who are working with collections (broadly conceived) to send their name, a presentation title and a couple of sentences on what they'd like to present on to arts-collectionslab@glasgow.ac.uk (this can be a brief note – no need for a formal abstract). The deadline for proposals for five-minute presentations is Friday 31st January, and we'll be in touch with further details the following week. Please note if you can only attend the morning or afternoon session. If you have any questions about the showcase or Collections Lab, please feel free to contact us using the email address above.

Glasgow Science Festival in Action - PGR training

PGR students from the Colleges of Science & Engineering (CoSE) and Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences (MVLS) are invited to join GSF in Action, an extended public engagement training scheme, taking place online and in-person throughout spring and summer 2025. There will be a combination of taught sessions and small group work, focusing on development of tabletop activities. Followed by a process of review and refinement. You will then deliver your groups activities at an event during Glasgow Science Festival 2025, which runs from the 5th to 15th June.

Throughout the course you will develop useful skills such as:

Effective group working
Understanding your audience
Development and delivery of high-quality STEM engagement content
Creation of supporting materials
Project and budget planning

For more information and to sign up please visit our website . Applications are open until Wednesday 19th February, 5pm. We look forward to your application. For any questions about the course please contact sciencefestival@glasgow.ac.uk.

Intellectual Property (IP) Skills webinars

The highly popular webinar series on intellectual property is back with a new focus on IP skills. Find out more here. Last year we held a series of highly popular talks about the basics of intellectual property. This year we decided to shift focus onto practical skills that are essential for any innovative or entrepreneurial researcher.

Turning research outcomes into new businesses, products, and services is one of the primary ways in which the University of Glasgow delivers meaningful social, economic, and environmental impact beyond academia. IP is critical to this activity – many potential industrial partners and investors will only collaborate or provide funding with appropriate IP protection in place. This means IP is of enormous and growing importance for generating impact. This new series of talks will explore IP skills that are critical for generating impact: freedom to operate, prior art, IP discovery, IP safety, IP value, and IP strategy.

These talks will be led by highly experienced patent attorneys from Mewburn Ellis. Ample time will be devoted to questions and discussion. These talks are open to all members of the University community, but people who have not previously contacted the IP & Innovation Team are especially welcome. The next in this series of webinars will be held on Wednesday 5th February 2024, 12 - 1pm.

You can sign up for all the IP skills webinars in the series on these links:

#5 of 7: Sean Jauss will discuss ensuring the safety of your IP. Get your free ticket here
#6 of 7: Dan Thornton will discuss understanding IP value. Get your free ticket here
#7 of 7: Eleanor Maciver will explain what a commercially driven IP strategy is. Get your free ticket here

TRI Support

Clinical 1-to-1 drop-in sessions

The TRI are offering a translational research regulatory support scheme, aimed to provide interested researchers with personalised regulatory support from expert consultants. This initiative is funded by the Wellcome Trust and provides applicants with the opportunity to attend a 1-1 session with therapeutics and clinical device regulatory experts, who can provide tailored guidance and support on the regulatory requirements of clinical translational projects. Interested researchers are invited to submit a short application along with their questions to Dr Michaela Petaroudi, and successful applicants will be invited to attend an online meeting with the regulatory consultant. In case further support is needed, eligible researchers will be offered with the option to attend a follow-up session.

Who should attend? This event is open to all University of Glasgow research staff of all levels, who are actively involved in translational projects and have identified specific areas where regulatory support or advice is required.

When? Drop-in sessions are now available on-demand. Please email Dr Michaela Petaroudi to book or to register interest.

Case Studies and Information

Translational Case Studies

SITUATE - A situated digital platform for learning new health habits.
VascuSens - Self-reporting vascular graft development.

MVLS Informational Videos

Translational Research Initiative - A series of videos on aspects of translational research and what support is available at the University of Glasgow.