Commercialisation: reaching beyond technology into the arts

At Cambridge Enterprise, we are keenly interested in engaging with academics and postdocs in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS), areas that traditionally don’t result in as much commercial activity as say, engineering and biochemistry.

We have seen a number of successful projects stem from AHSS origins. For example, Dr Piers Vitebsky, the Head of Anthropology and Russian Northern Studies at the University’s Scott Polar Research Institute, is working in Siberia to help the Russians improve their acceptance into scientific peer-reviewed journals. And Professor Pauline Rose from the Faculty of Education is helping to raise learning outcomes for children from disadvantaged backgrounds in low-income countries.

We’re working hard to get plugged-in to the innovations and ideas coming from AHSS departments, and as a result we’re meeting University staff to explain our services.

Earlier this month we attended the Getting Connected event for new AHSS postdocs at the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) and spoke to postdocs, from a range of backgrounds, on the benefits of entrepreneurship. Helen Atkinson, Deputy Head of Consultancy Services at Cambridge Enterprise, recently gave a talk about Consultancy to the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, providing examples of successful projects that have come from this background such as Dr Danny Longman’s research on understanding the nature of physical performance, which is helping Helly Hansen to develop the next generation of performance clothing technology.

Coming up on 21 April, Peri Cihan, one of our Senior Consultancy Associates, is visiting CRASSH to talk about our Consultancy Services as part of a lunchtime forum. This event will be open to all postdocs, so put the date in your diary – it will be advertised by CRASSH closer to the time.

If you’d like to know more, you can get in touch with us directly. But for a contact closer to home, we have a network of Enterprise Champions based in AHSS departments across the University. Enterprise Champions can act as a first point of contact if you want advice on bringing your ideas and expertise to market. They know the resources available through Cambridge Enterprise and foster a good working relationship with colleagues to encourage commercialisation.

They are:

• Michael Ramage, Department of Architecture
• Dr Andrea Salter, School of Arts and Humanities and School of the Humanities and Social Sciences
• Dr Daniel Wunderlich, School of Arts and Humanities and School of the Humanities and Social Sciences
• Dr Clare Dyer-Smith, Big Data Initiative
• Dr Dora Alexopoulou, Cambridge Bilingualism Information Network
• Jane Walsh, Cambridge Language Sciences
• David Carter, Faculty of Education
• Marla Fuchs, ESRC Impact Acceleration Account Co-ordinator
• Dr Charlotte Sausman, Public Policy Initiative
• Dr Paula Buttery, Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics

So let us know what you are working on – maybe we can help.

Photo credit: Whipple Museum Islamic astrolabe, reproduced with permission from the University of Cambridge

Image: Imitation astrolabe, possibly Indo-Persian, mid-19th century. Photo credit: Sir Cam ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/camdiary/ ) © University of Cambridge