Nottingham University Business School hosted the first Symposium for The Food Consortium Collaborative Training Partnership (CTP)

PhD researchers outside The Jubilee Conference Centre

On 17 November 2023, Nottingham University Business School hosted the first Symposium for The Food Consortium Collaborative Training Partnership (CTP).  The Symposium was held at The Jubilee Hotel and Conference Centre and was an opportunity for the PhD researchers to share non-confidential aspects of their work with members of the CTP cohorts plus academic and industrial supervisors. 

Partners of The Food Consortium are food manufacturers with a significant R&D base in the UK - Nestle, Mondelez, PepsiCo and Samworth Brothers, together with the largest UK-based independent science and technology provider and trainer for the food industry, Campden BRI. The Haydn Green Institute (HGI) deliver the Innovation and Entrepreneurship training to the PhD researchers who will also complete the Your Entrepreneurs Scheme (YES) as part of their PhD. The first cohort of students completed this training 14-16 November 2023.

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship training, co-ordinated by Executive Education, is an intensive three-day residential addressing:

• key concepts and issues to consider when commercialising early-stage science and technology (developing intellectual property to a point where it is ready to enter the market). Developing these transferable skills is an ever increasingly important activity for Universities, Government and Industry and directly impacts on Teaching, Research and Knowledge-Exchange agendas. It explicitly links to many of the skills development agenda Vitae Research Development Framework
• tools to help evaluate (potential) innovation. During the early stage of technology development, the most appropriate route to market may be unclear. This training considers different techniques to help evaluate the potential market size, value and appropriate business model for technology-based inventions (Win2, Business Model Canvas, etc)
  
  
• commercialisation strategies. Case studies and tips exploring potential ways of successfully commercialising early-stage ideas from University to global launch

Nottingham University Business School's Executive Education are also involved in the development and delivery of customised professional development to the cohort of both Industry and Academic supervisors to support the long term aim of publishing articles and white papers to influence policy and science / technology direction.

Professor Emeritus Tim Foster is involved through Nottingham University Business School in helping deliver the training programme across the CTP and said:

“It has been wonderful to work with the first cohort of students on their innovation and entrepreneurship training. They arrived on Tuesday as individuals, who had only ever met online, and have left as a true team. They have benefited from cutting edge insight from NUBS and been blessed with the attendance of industry practitioners to share an array of different technology and career journeys.

The cohort was spilt into three teams and during day three they were equipped to professionally deliver a hypothetical business pitch for funding – putting them in a great position to go for YES '24. On the 17th November they were joined by the new starters in cohort 2 and delivered polished and detailed presentations of their scientific work, and a lengthy poster session allowed all researchers to benefit from interaction with the large number of attending academic and industry supervisors.

It has been wonderful to see The Food Consortium in the light in which we had all hoped it would create.”

 For more information about CTP please contact the Executive Education team.