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Win for early-career researchers with top entrepreneurial skills

14 December 2010

The entrepreneurial skills of a team of early-career environmental scientists with ideas for reversing fish decline have earned them top place in a national competition held at County Hall, London last night.

The winners of the 2010 Environment Young Entrepreneurs Scheme (YES) competition are Raeanne Miller, Karen Alexander, Kyla Orr and Lisa Eckford-Soper from the UHI Millennium Institute, based at the Scottish Association for Marine Science.

Left to right: Raeanne Miller, Karen Alexander, Lisa Eckford-Soper, Kyla Orr

Environment YES is an annual business plan competition run by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the University of Nottingham's Institute for Enterprise & Innovation.

The team impressed a panel of investors with their hypothetical company Mara Mor when they presented their business idea for isolating a novel spawning stimulant for the European eel. The stimulant is chemically attached to a binding protein which then diffuses through the eels' gills, stimulating reproduction.

Mara Mor made it through regional heats to compete against two other teams in the final, eventually going head-to-head with runners up Tellus Technologies Ltd from the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland. Each team that entered the competition received mentoring and coaching in business planning; commercial and marketing strategies; raising and managing finance; and patenting and intellectual property.

The Mara Mor team wins £1,000 and further training from Indigo Business Solutions, who sponsor the Environment YES competition.

This is the fifth year that Environment YES has been run in parallel with Biotechnology YES, run by the Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council. At last night's Biotechnology YES ten teams competed, with Microbe Solutions Ltd from the University of Manchester being crowned the winner.

Another entrepreneurial winner last night was Melanie Wrigley from the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland. She presented the business case for Tellus Technologies Ltd and so impressed the judges that she was awarded the prize for best presenter of both the Environment and Biotechnology YES competitions.

Emily Medland, NERC's coordinator for Environment YES, said, "I congratulate all of the teams who fought a hard battle to reach the final, in particular Mara Mor, who eventually took the crown, and Melanie Wrigley for her impressive presentation. This year's competition has produced some excellent ideas from young researchers who now have advantageous insights into the world of business and commerce.

"I am particularly pleased that most of the participants who made it to the final came from NERC's own research and collaborative centres, as we actively encourage our researchers to look for commercial opportunities in their work."

A recent independent review of the Young Entrepreneurs Scheme shows that it gives early career researchers the edge in entrepreneurial skills and future career prospects.

Having participated in the YES competitions, early career scientists are well prepared to move into industry where their improved entrepreneurial skills are highly valued.

There is some evidence to suggest that past participants perceive their earning potential as greater following the competition and the review indicates that the skills gained are exactly complementary to those acquired during a PhD.

Further information

NERC Press Office
Natural Environment Research Council
Polaris House, North Star Avenue
Swindon, SN2 1EU
Tel: 01793 411561
Mob: 07917 557215

Notes

1. NB: All companies are hypothetical and products are imaginary.

2. The two other teams in the Environment YES final were:

Tellus Technologies Ltd from the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland, who developed a technology leading to a product that downscales and de-skills the process of targeting groundwater wells. Team members are: Orla Gallagher, Claire McGinn, Paul Wilson and Melanie Wrigley.

Buzz Scientific from the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, who have identified the honeybee genes responsible for disease resistance and developed a hand-held device, to enable a genetic analysis at the hive to assist in selective breeding. Team members are: Alex Beaton, Mahadji Bahi, Victoire Reroll and David Owsianka.

Press release: 45/10

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