The Babraham Institute performs pioneering research to understand the biological processes underpinning lifelong health and wellbeing. The Institute is committed to maximising the dissemination, impact and use of the knowledge held and generated by the Institute. This is achieved through the Institute’s active KEC programme which fosters opportunities for academic and industrial research collaborations to translate research outcomes for social and economic benefit. Commercial activities are supported by the Institute’s trading arm, Babraham Institute Enterprise Ltd.
The new Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) will extend the range of impact-generating activities undertaken by the Institute. Specifically it will fund:
- commercialisation training courses to help researchers to identify potential commercialisation opportunities for their research,
- a new programme of short-term staff exchanges between Institute researchers and companies co-located on the Babraham Research Campus,
- early-stage exploration of projects with commercialisation potential.
Simon Cook, Head of Knowledge Exchange and Commercialisation and research group leader at the Institute, said: “The additional funds will allow us to explore new and innovative mechanisms to further strengthen the culture of knowledge exchange and commercialisation within the Institute. Offering commercialisation training and early-stage support for projects with commercialisation potential will allow us to better identify and act on opportunities for impact.”
Professor Michael Wakelam, Institute Director, said: “At the Babraham Institute we are committed to seeing our fundamental research being fed forward and used as a foundation for discoveries with social and economic benefit. For example, the Institute spin-out Crescendo Biologics recently raised a Series A investment of £19.5M. Our position at the heart of the Babraham Research Campus and co-location with campus companies provides a unique opportunity for impact and the new funds will allow us to further strengthen our campus links.”
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