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Business Fellow Network

A network of Knowledge Exchange experts with a strong track record in accelerating innovation, funded jointly by the Connected Places Catapult and the participating academic institutions.

Our aim is to bring university outputs closer to commercialisation and enable academics to increase industry engagement, entrepreneurship and research impact as well as creating commercial and CR&D opportunities between Connected Places Catapult, universities and industry.

We engaged with the Business Fellows from January 2019, engaging 14 Business Fellows across 13 Universities that year and expanding the Network to 15 Fellows across the total of 20 universities from 2021.

Business Fellows were based in their academic partner institutions, bringing research outputs closer to commercialisation. This enabled academics to increase their industry engagement, entrepreneurship and research impact to support their universities to achieve Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) targets.

For any questions please contact Academia@cp.catapult.org.uk

Testimonials

“…I would recommend a Business Fellowship as a great way of working with Connected Places Catapult. I appreciated the opportunity to work with the Catapult colleagues and broaden my networks. One of the personal highlights was an introduction to innovative tools such as design thinking, used by the Catapult with companies. For me, this really encaptured the methodology for co-creating good research collaborations…”
Vicki Ayton, Business Development Manager, CREST, University of Chester
I would thoroughly recommend becoming part of the Connected Places Catapult Business Fellows Network. It has opened new conversations and ways of thinking in my role as Managing Director of Future Towns Innovation Hub at Southampton. I have also been inspired by the work of other Fellows and tapped into the breadth and depth of knowledge at the CPC to forge what is turning out be a very valued relationship.
Prof Clinton Styles, Associate Dean Enterprise at University of Southampton
Connected Places Catapult’s Business Fellow Network provides a great opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of the Catapult and what its role is in relation to its key areas of priority. Being engaged in the Network enable me to develop vital links with members of the Catapult team to explore collaborative opportunities, to enable me to connect academics with key people within the Catapult and to engage with their network to build links with SMEs partners.
Dr. Hitesh H Patel, Senior Business Development Manager, Brunel University London

We are excited to give an early notice that we plan to expand the Business Fellow Network, with recruitment for Wave 3 planned for this summer. Role description will be available soon.

Please sign up to our Academic Network to ensure that you get alerted to this opportunity once we launch recruitment.

In the meantime, please feel free to connect with one of the Business Fellow Alumni to find our more about this programme and benefits to the Fellows.

Previous cohorts

The second wave

Wave 2 ran from December 2020 to March 2022, with 15 Business Fellows taking part across 15 universities.

The aim is to bring university outputs closer to commercialisation and enable academics to increase their industry engagement.

A collage of headshots titled "Meet the Business Fellow Network" with the Catapult Connected Places logo in the bottom right corner. The date "May 2020" is displayed at the top left.

Business Fellows Network – Wave 2

File type: pdf

File size: 11.44Mb

Download Report

The First Wave

Wave 1 ran from January to December 2019, engaging 14 Business Fellows across 13 universities. Business Fellows were based in their academic partner institutions, bringing research outputs closer to commercialisation.

This enables academics to increase their industry engagement, entrepreneurship and research impact to support their universities to achieve Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) targets.

Green banner on the left reads "Meet the Business Fellows Network." The right side shows a multi-story building interior with people on a balcony. "Catapult Connected Places" logo is at the bottom.

Business Fellows Network – Wave 1

File type: pdf

File size: 63.18Mb

Download Report