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Nicol Stephen awards £1.5 million to help universities reap commercial success
26/06/2000
Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, Nicol Stephen today presented nine Scottish University projects with awards totalling over £1.5 million from the Proof of Concept funding.
The awards were made from 83 applications to research projects judged as having the strongest commercial potential. Proof of Concept Funding aims to help Scotland's universities turn world-beating research into commercial success.
Speaking to invited guests at Glasgow's Lighthouse, Mr Stephen said:
"There is tremendous commercial potential in each and every one of the awards made today. I welcome the vital contribution which this funding is making to the commercialisation process".
"Increasingly international competition will come from new sources. If only one in a thousand of the scientists working in the former Soviet Union, India or China is able to commercialise their ideas we are facing a flood of new products, processes and technologies. To succeed in this environment it is vital that Scotland's businesses get smarter too.
"I am delighted to formally launch the second round of funding to enable our most innovative thinking to generate new business and I trust that future applications will live up to the exacting standards being demonstrated by today's award recipients."
BACKGROUND
1. The £11 million Proof of Concept fund was launched in October 1999 by Henry McLeish. The fund was a result of a recommendation in Lord Macdonald's Knowledge Economy Task Force that the additional £11 million allocated to Scottish Enterprise under the Comprehensive Spending Review should be drawn on to support proof of concept stage activity and to complement the University Challenge Fund. The funding is allocated to higher education institutions and research institutes through the Scottish Enterprise cluster teams. The funding is aimed at the development gap between scientific discovery and proof of concept or prototype stage.
2. A total of nine projects are receiving awards to the value of £1 545,679 today. A further eight proposals totalling £1.7 million are actively being encouraged to re-apply.
Within the Semi-conductor and Micro-electronics cluster the awards total £575373. This includes: University of Edinburgh (includes Universities of Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow)- £58,200; University of Paisley-£33,000; University of Strathclyde- £160,689; University of Edinburgh- £132732; University of Glasgow- £190,752
Within the Biotechnology cluster the awards total £970,306. This includes: University of Glasgow- £215,300; University of Dundee- £291525; University of Dundee- £186,401; University of Strathclyde- £277,080.
3. Of the total £11 million, £2 million is available in the current financial year, £3 million in financial year 2000- 2001 and £6 million in 2001- 2002.
4. Scottish Enterprise through the cluster teams have identified the successful projects which have been assesses to have a commercial potential which fit with the cluster strategy for Scotland. These projects fall within the existing clusters of biotechnology, food and drink, and semi- conductors and micro- electronics. The next round of funding will be up to £4 million- greater than originally proposed- as Scottish Enterprise's cluster work is progressing faster than anticipated with plans for opto- electronics, Creative Industries, and Oil & Gas to join the tree clusters already eligible.
5. Universities and research institutes are being asked to submit bids for the second round of funding for projects by 18 September 2000.
6. More information on the fund is available at www.scottishenterprise.com
News Release: SE1864/2000
26 Jun 2000