Graduate Business Start-ups Project Report - The Institute for ...

Support includes business seminars and seminars by gallery
managers, team building and business exercises. Advice on
writing a business plan and presentation of team plans are also
involved.
Students are also responsible for generating finance for the
project — through sponsorship or whatever means they identify.
The Biotechnology Young Entrepreneurs Scheme (Biotech YES)
This is a competition developed to introduce students and
researchers in the Biosciences to the commercial potential of
scientific and technological
discoveries and, to the requirements for the development of a
biotechnology company.
It is jointly organised by the BBSRC (Biotechnology and
Biological Sciences Research Council) and the University of
Nottingham. This scheme introduces Bioscience students to the
key business skills important in setting up a Biotech company.
YES begins with intensive regional weekend induction
workshops where teams of undergraduate and postgraduate/
postdoctoral scientists are introduced to the key aspects of
preparing a business plan and setting up a Bioscience company
Postgraduate teams spend a further 2 days developing their
plans, with advice from a team of mentors, and then make oral
presentations of their plans for the start up company to a judging
panel of Venture Capitalists. Undergraduates return to their
universities to prepare written business plans, submitted for
judging after 6 weeks.
Undergraduate and postgraduate teams are then selected from
each of the regions to present their plans. In 1998 teams from the
Universities of Aberdeen, Cambridge, Leeds, Surrey, UCL and
the John Innes Centre, Norwich were invited to present their
business plans at the Postgraduate/postdoctoral final.
Entrepreneurial Skills within Career Management
Programmes
A curriculum based programme developing generic career
management skills with explicit focus on the self-employed
sector is Personal and Professional Development at the
University College of Ripon and York St. John. The modules are
a compulsory part of the College’s combined Honours schemes.
They aim to give students ‘knowledge, skills and experiences
relevant to a variety of careers in the private, public, voluntary
and self-employed sectors ….’
Graduate Business Start-ups: Project Report 31