News
Sustainability is the aim of the game for Biotechnology YES 2019 entrepreneurs
Published on 4 November 2019
An interdisciplinary team from across the Schools of Life Sciences and Medicine will take part in the Biotechnology YES 2019 entrepreneurial competition.
An interdisciplinary team from across the Schools of Life Sciences and Medicine will take part in the Biotechnology YES 2019 entrepreneurial competition next month. Anna Segarra Fas (Findlay lab, MRC-PPU), Margarida Trigo (Lambert, Martin and Langston labs, Neuroscience), Saria Mansoor (Dorfmueller lab, MMB) and Tom Snelling (Cohen lab, MRC-PPU) have joined together to form the team Recycle Enterprises (RE).
The biotechnology YES competition involves PhD students from across the UK competing against each other with their ideas in a “dragons den” style pitch to secure theoretical funding for their innovation.
The event takes place over three days (from 6th to 8th November) between GSK and the Stevenage BioScience Catalyst (SBC). The competing teams will attend workshops to learn about intellectual property, managing finances, marketing and commercialisation. The ultimate aim of these activities is to work on their idea and improve it for the final pitch. The idea will be judged by a panel of experts on several criteria including the business plan, numbers involved, feasibility, and the pitch itself. The top two teams from each category go through to the final in London where they will pitch for actual investment.
The University of Dundee Recycle Enterprises team, who will compete in the biomedicine category, have developed an idea for an instrument that is designed to recycle single use lab plastic wear which can then be reused within the lab. This would result in reduced plastic use but also save money as there would be less waste disposal costs.
Recycle Enterprises said, "The team would like to thank Brian McNicoll from the Centre for Entrepreneurship and his invited speakers, as part of the Enterprise Challenge, for their advice on intellectual property, finance and marketing. We would also like to thank the SLS Sustainability Action Team and the Schools of Life Science and Medicine more widely for their guidance and support for the project.”