Commercialisation and industry engagement opportunities

Commercialisation and industry engagement opportunities include a range of activities for Investigators, students and postdoctoral fellows.

• Advice and guidance from the Deputy Director (Commercialisation and Industry Engagement) and Commercialisation and Industry Engagement Manager on commercialising your science, including on how to to connect with Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs).
• Commercial seed funding to support early stage commercial ideas and projects. Two or more calls for applications are made by email to all Investigators each year (usually in approx. March/April and September/October). Applications for ad hoc funding for projects or personal development can also be made to the Deputy Director outside of these times.
• Techweek networking events occur in May every year. Investigators are welcome to attend, and Investigators or alumni are asked to speak about or exhibit their commercially relevant science or start-up.
• Deep Tech CEO/CTO Breakfasts are held in each of the major centres on a monthly basis. These are peer-to-peer meetings over breakfast or lunch, and any MacDiarmid Institute scientists looking to better understand the start-up world are welcome.
• Science Advisory Panels are held online and provide regular engagement between technology companies and our scientists. Each panel session hosts a company that is interested in pursuing research to overcome a technical challenge with commercial relevance. 
• Commercial Skill Building Seminars. These online sessions provide opportunities for researchers with an interest in commercialization to develop their knowledge and skill-set. Usually these sessions feature a practising expert as a guest speaker.
• Governance skills. The Institute supports our Investigators to become involved in governance training opportunities, especially the OnBoard board observer programme.
• For your students, postdoctoral fellows and Research Assistants:
  • The Career and Relevant-to-Industry Skills Programme (CRISP) provides a range of learning and up-skilling modules in the commercialisation space.
  • Alumni Business Scholarships are awarded each year to enable alumni to undertake further postgraduate study in business-related areas, bridging academia and industry and enhancing their business acumen.
  • Industry internships are often available for students, typically for 3 months following submission of their thesis.

For more information on commercialisation and industry engagement opportunities please contact Deputy Director Natalie Plank or Commercialisation and Industry Engagement Manager Kevin Sheehy.

Return to the Information for Investigators page.