Guidance Notes - Royal Academy of Engineering

Enterprise Fellowships Guidance Notes
This document provides guidelines to applicants for the Academy’s Enterprise Fellowships.
Please ensure that you fully understand the Eligibility Criteria and the Terms and Conditions
before applying. It is essential that you consult the commercialisation office of the Host
University to gain their support for the route of IP exploitation before applying. Enterprise
Fellows are expected to start on or before 1 April 2014.
If you have any questions about the application process please contact:
Katie Melton
Assistant Manager, Research Programmes
The Royal Academy of Engineering
3 Carlton House Terrace
London SW1Y 5DG
Email: katie.melton@raeng.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)20 7766 0615
Aim of the Scheme
Enterprise Fellowships enable aspiring entrepreneurs to commercialise technology based
business ideas from academic institutions into spin out companies.
Introduction
The award provides up to £85,000 to each Enterprise Fellow to enable them to spend 12
months establishing their own business, based on innovations/ products/ services emerging
from their research. In addition to the financial support, training will be provided to develop
business skills. Mentors will be allocated to each Enterprise Fellow to provide additional
support, advice and access to their entrepreneurial and venture capital networks during the
Enterprise Fellowship.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must be working at a UK HEI, at post-doctoral level or above, in an
engineering department (or engineering focussed research area). PhD students are
eligible to apply, but must receive their PhD before they start the Fellowship.
Engineering is defined in its broadest sense, encompassing a wide range of diverse
fields. If your business idea is in a non-engineering area please contact the Scheme
Manager to check if you are eligible to apply
Industrial researchers and establishments are not eligible.
Applicants must show commitment to the objectives of the scheme and aim to establish
a business during the course of the Fellowship, based on innovations, products or
services emerging from past research.
Enterprise Fellows are required to devote all their time to the Fellowship as this is a fulltime
award.

Evidence of previous attempts at commercialisation or involvement with technology
transfer is not a prerequisite, but any such information should be stated in the
application if relevant.
The Enterprise Fellow will be expected to play a leading (though not necessarily the
leading) role in the development of a new business, and can work with others in a
team.
The Fellowship will not fund further research work.
It should be the intention of the Fellow to remain with the business in a full-time
capacity following the Fellowship.
Funding Package
Funding is for 12 months of financial support of up to £85,000 to enable the Enterprise
Fellow to commercialise their research.
Up to £35,000 of funding can be used for salary support of the Enterprise Fellow. Please
note that funding does not cover income tax, pensions, national insurance or the salary
of other members of staff.
Allowable costs directly related to the Fellowship may include: Travel, equipment,
business consultancy, project specific consumables, legal costs, specific business
courses and attending conferences and seminars directly related to the Enterprise
Fellowship. The costs will need to be justified in the application.
Full economic costs (fEC) are not payable under this scheme.
Selection of Enterprise Fellow
A Selection Panel composed of Royal Academy of Engineering Fellows will rank the
applications and selected candidates will be invited for interview.
The interview will require each candidate to present their business idea to the panel.
The initial pitch should last no more than five minutes and will be followed by a
Question and Answer session.
Interviews are expected to take place in late October/early November. Applicants must
be available to attend or they will not be considered. A date will be provided nearer the
time.
Assessment criteria for Enterprise Fellowships
All applications for Enterprise Fellowships will be assessed against the following
selection criteria:
o Quality and vision of the Applicant
o Effectiveness of technology, product or service
o Market potential of proposed technology, product or service
o Commercial credibility of the Business Plan
o Entrepreneurial potential and business awareness of applicant or team
o Expected benefits to UK economy
Monitoring/evaluation
Enterprise Fellows must provide a 3, 6 and 9 month progress update to the Scheme
Manager
At the end of the Fellowship, Enterprise Fellows will be required to submit a Final Report
which should include:
o Description of the business idea and how the Fellowship has assisted in its
progression
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o Description of the progress made against the Gantt chart submitted with the
application
o A full product specification (where appropriate)
o Development plan showing timescales and costs required to reach a final
production model
o Description of how the business idea will be progressed after the end of the
Enterprise Fellowship
Enterprise Fellows will also be required to present their work to the Selection Panel and
invited audience at the end of the Fellowship.
The Enterprise Fellow must provide a brief annual update, on request, on the on-going
commercialisation process for a minimum of 5 years after the completion of the award.
This will be used to monitor the success of the scheme, as required by the Department
for Business, Innovation & Skills. Any transfer of IPR to a commercialising company
must include an explicit condition that this information is to continue to be made
available to the Academy.
Enterprise Fellows will be provided with a Mentor, usually a Fellow of the Academy who
will provide support and advice throughout the Fellowship.
The Academy Mentor will not make or take business decisions, perform the functions of
a consultant, or take the role of an executive or non-executive director of the company.
The role of the Mentor is to monitor the Incumbent to ensure that the Academy’s funds
are well spent while also providing advice and guidance to ensure a viable business is in
operation at the end of the Fellowship.
The Mentor will be required to submit quarterly reports to the Academy. The Mentor will
also review the Enterprise Fellow’s reports and assess their progress.
Application Documents
The application should contain the following documents:
The Application Form
Letter of Support from the Head of Department
Letter of Support from the Commercialisation Office
CV of the applicant (maximum 4 pages)
Please see the following pages for guidance on each of the required documents. Once these
documents have been completed, the Application Form, Letters of Support and CV should be
collated as a single PDF file, in that order, and submitted to research@raeng.org.uk. The
Diversity Monitoring Form should be submitted as a separate document.
All applications must be received by 17:00 on Monday 9 September 2013. Late
applications or applications that exceed the word/page limits will not be considered. Please
note that the maximum size email we can receive is 10Mb. Please do not change the font, the
font size or margin settings when completing the application form.
Selected applicants will be contacted to attend interviews, due to be held at the end of
October/early November. Enterprise Fellowship applicants will be notified of the outcome of
the application in writing by the end of November. Enterprise Fellows are expected to start on
or before 1 April 2014.
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Data Protection
The Royal Academy of Engineering will hold your personal data in confidence and will
not release it to any third parties without your consent, except those involved in the
delivery, audit, review and evaluation of the Enterprise Fellowships.
Equal Opportunities
The Royal Academy of Engineering is committed to a policy of equal opportunities in that
applicants will receive equal treatment, regardless of race, colour, religion, gender, age or
disability.
APPLICATION FORM
PERSONAL DETAILS
Please supply your name, preferred correspondence details and title of the proposed
business opportunity.
BUSINESS PLAN
Please use FOUR (4) PAGES ONLY to set out your proposed business opportunity.
Please address each of the topics given in bold below. Write as much you like for each
topic but stay within the total page limit – do not change the font, the font size or
margin settings. When you have finished, you may delete all words in italics, i.e. these
instructions, to ensure you are within the page limit. You may add additional titles as
you deem appropriate.
Executive Summary
Please outline the market opportunity for your business and how your products or
services will address this market. This should be understandable by, and compelling to,
a non-technical person.
Proposed Business Enterprise
Please expand on your executive summary and provide a fuller description of
the business you plan to develop.
What is your product or service?
Have you thought through a business model to bring your product or service to
market?
Do you plan to license the technology or spin out a company?
What is your unique selling point?
What is the likely cost of producing the product/service?
Science, Technology or Innovation
Please give a description of the particular science, technology or innovation will
underpin the commercial offering of your proposed business. Discuss to what
extent that the science, technology or innovation has been developed to the
point that it is ready to be offered to customers.
What is the problem that your novel idea, novel design or invention is intended
to solve?
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What are the most effective ways in which this problem has been addressed in
the past?
Why are improvements necessary or desirable?
How close are you to having a completed product or service ready for market?
What further development is required?
How will that development be funded and resourced?
The Market
Please provide information on the market opportunity for the proposed business and
how the products/services will address the market. Provide details of your proposed
route to market and any market data and trends.
What is the size of the market that your company will address? Please specify a
relevant market segment rather than the market as a whole. Concrete market
data should be supplied where available.
What are the relevant trends in this market, and where are customers located
geographically?
Will the market be in a position to take up your technology?
Competitive Advantage
Please define the unique selling point of the proposed product/service,
competitors in the marketplace and how the product meets the market needs.
What is your unique selling point?
What place will your product or service have in your intended market(s)?
Who are the competitors in the marketplace, and how do they address the
market’s needs? How do you compare?
Customers and Their Needs
Please give an outline of the customer and their needs. Provide any evidence
that gives confidence that the proposed offering is a solution that customers will
pay for?
Who is the end user of the product/service, and what problem do they have that
will be solved by the product/service?
Who are the customers (if different from end users) for the product/service?
What evidence is there that customers will pay for this product or service at
commercially profitable levels?
What is the preferred route to market, and what channels will be used to reach
customers?
Have you already spoken to potential customers? What have you learned from
them?
The Team, Partnerships and Connections
Please give an outline of the people who will be involved in the business and any
others who will provide support.
Who else will be involved in developing your business?
What are their roles?
What rights to the business will they possess?
What partnerships will support the development of your business? How much do
you still need to do to develop these partnerships?
What broader connections do you envisage helping the development of your
business?
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How will they be funded for the duration of the Fellowship? Please note the
£35,000 available for salary support can only cover the costs of the Enterprise
Fellow.
Risk Analysis
Identify and assess any factors that may jeopardise the success of the business plan.
Examples include a competitor commercialising the technology first, a member of the
team leaving the Host Institution, problems associated with the IP, running out of funds
before the end of the Fellowship, etc. Risks will not necessarily be perceived as
weaknesses by the Panel. You should use this opportunity to demonstrate your
commercial awareness and management skills.
PROFILE OF THE APPLICANT
What qualities and experiences do you have that make you the right person to
create a new business under the Engineering Enterprise Fellowship scheme? Please
provide details of any experience demonstrating entrepreneurial potential in up to 250 words.
What knowledge, skills and aptitudes do you possess which will help ensure your business is
successful? How will you personally benefit from and develop yourself through an Enterprise
Fellowship award?
The Academy will allocate a Mentor to each awardee to offer advice and guidance for
the duration of the Fellowship. What specific areas would you like advice on? What
are the key attributes you would look for in a Mentor and how do you think a Mentor
would help you take forward the business opportunity? Please provide details in up to
250 words. Please note that the Academy Mentor will not make or take business decisions,
perform the functions of a consultant, or take the role of an executive or non-executive
director of the company. The role of the Mentor is to offer support and advice, encouragement
and a dose of reality where necessary. Their role is to monitor the Incumbent to ensure that
the Academy’s funds are well spent while also providing advice and guidance to ensure a
viable business is in operation at the end of the Fellowship.
In addition to the funding and the provision of a Mentor, the award also includes
business training throughout the Fellowship. What would you hope to get out of the
business training provided? Are there any specific areas you would like to address,
and if the training does not cover these how will they be addressed? Please provide
details in up to 250 words. Describe any business skills you hope to develop over the course of
the Fellowship and how these could be achieved with training.
Where would you expect to be in terms of your career and the business at the end of
the Fellowship (in terms of your career and the business as a whole)? How do you
anticipate funding the venture (including your salary costs) beyond the period of the
award? Please provide details in up to 250 words. Describe your personal goals for the
Fellowship and the progress you expect to make with your business during your 12 months of
the Fellowship. Will the business be successful enough at this stage to support you directly via
a salary? Will further third party investment/awards be required or will you support yourself in
some other way?
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SUPPORTING INFORMATION
Has the business you are seeking to develop during the Enterprise Fellowship
already been incorporated? Please answer Yes or No and provide further details, if
necessary. If the business has not been incorporated, please give reasons and discuss any
plans to do so in the future.
Does your application for an Enterprise Fellowship require access to any background
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)? Please provide a description of any existing IPR, its
ownership and status. If you hold the IPR, please provide details including patent numbers
and issue years.
Has the IPR required for this Enterprise Fellowship application been licensed to any
other organisation or person? Please answer Yes or No and provide further details if
necessary. Give details if the IPR has been licensed to any other party.
Has written agreement been reached with the Host Institution concerning access to
any applicable IPR it owns that is required as part of this application? Please answer
Yes or No and provide details of any arrangement with the host organisation on any future IPR
claims. Provide details of any written agreement with the organisation owning the IPR.
Has written agreement been reached with the Host Institution regarding the equity
distribution of the proposed business? Please answer Yes or No and provide details of any
arrangement with the host organisation regarding equity distribution. It is expected that an
equity distribution agreement will be reached prior to an award being made.
FINANCE
Please provide details of the breakdown of allowable costs for the Fellowship
in the table provided. The award is tax free and the funding provided is a grant to
cover allowable business costs directly related to the Enterprise Fellowship. Allowable
costs may include: Travel, equipment, business consultancy, project specific
consumables, legal costs, prototyping, product testing, marketing, advertising, trade
marks, copyright, website, attending conferences and seminars directly related to the
Enterprise Fellowship.
JUSTIFICATION OF COSTS
Please use ONE (1) PAGE ONLY to justify the costs from the table. Up to
£35,000 of funding can be used as for salary support. Please provide details of your
current salary. Funding cannot be used to cover the salary of other staff members,
administration costs or running costs of the Host Institution.
GANTT CHART
Please use ONE (1) PAGE ONLY to insert a Gantt chart or equivalent. Show the
schedule of activities for the duration of the Enterprise Fellowship and ensure that the
major milestones and their respective timelines are clearly illustrated.
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SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
LETTER OF SUPPORT FROM HEAD OF DEPARTMENT
The Letter of Support from the applicant’s Head of Department should include:
An explanation of the university’s willingness to host the Enterprise Fellow in the
department and to make available adequate facilities and provide support as
necessary to complete the Fellowship.
An explanation of the reasons why the applicant is a suitable candidate for an
Engineering Enterprise Fellowship.
Comment on the quality of the match between the applicant and the project/s and
tasks proposed in the Business Plan.
LETTER OF SUPPORT FROM COMMERCIALISATION OFFICE
The Letter of Support from the applicant’s Commercialisation Office should include:
What will the commercialisation office provide in support of the Enterprise Fellow in
pursuit of the Fellowship? (e.g. legal and financial advice)
A statement about how the commercialisation office has supported the applicant so
far.
A description of any IPR, its ownership and status.
An explanation of any agreement relating to identification, protection and
subsequent exploitation of IP generated from the Enterprise Fellowship.
Comment on the quality of the match between the applicant and the project/s and
tasks proposed in the Business Plan.
Comment on the likelihood of the applicant spinning out a company within the year
of the Fellowship and any barriers associated with this expectation.
Comment on the anticipated equity distribution of the proposed spin out company.
At this early stage this may well be limited to stating your standard terms.
CURRICULUM VITAE
The format and content of your CV is left to your discretion. You do not need to include
contact details as these are included earlier in the application. Your CV should not exceed four
(4) pages.
DIVERSITY MONITORING FORM
This form does not form part of the formal application. The data provided in the applicant’s
Diversity Monitoring Form will be used for monitoring purposes only and will form no part of
the scheme’s selection procedure. The form should be submitted as a separate Word
document along with the full application.
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