SHAPE Ideas Incubator

The programme will guide researchers through the early critical steps of research impact and commercialisation, and help you understand how impactful innovations are brought to market by offering hands-on insight, mentorship and practical tools.

Benefits include:

• A practical exposure to the basics of social innovation, commercialisation and entrepreneurship.
• Tailored support from a dedicated case team who will help you to develop your innovation pathway and identify stakeholders.
• Introduction to tools and case studies to help formulate and test your ideas.
• Meet like-minded people, collaborate and learn from their expertise.
• Develop fruitful links to Cambridge’s wider research and innovation community to find support as you take your project or venture forward.

• Developed an advanced draft of your business model canvas (including an informed stakeholder and beneficiary analysis and a clear value proposition).
• Created an action plan for your idea to move forward, informed by the insights gathered and the increased familiarity with the tools introduced in each session.
• Learnt how to articulate the value of your idea to different publics through different techniques and tools
• Developed a lasting, supportive network and community in the Cambridge research and innovation ecosystem.

Each session will be hosted by members of the commercialisation teams at Cambridge Enterprise and introduces expertise from Cambridge’s broader networks. Between sessions, participants can work with their personal case team to develop their ideas.

Every session includes expert content delivery focused on practical tools and methods in social innovation, an opportunity for structured and informal discussions with speakers, and time for you to work as a team on progressing and refining your ideas.

Exercises might include:

• Developing your value proposition
• Stakeholder mapping
• Business Canvas modelling
• Customer proposals, marketing materials and exploration of commercial channels
• Exploring funding and support

Researchers and staff from anywhere in the university are welcome: we will prioritise applications with a strong emphasis on understanding and tackling societal challenges.

We especially welcome applications from researchers in arts, humanities, computational and data science, and social sciences and from inter/multi-disciplinary projects; and from researchers who have previously been involved in impact, public engagement, policy engagement or knowledge exchange and who are curious about entrepreneurial and innovation pathways.

We invite individuals or teams of between one and three people to submit Expressions of Interest.

We welcome:

• University of Cambridge researchers (including PhD students) in any discipline including multidisciplinary /interdisciplinary teams
• University of Cambridge staff members
• Collaborators from inside or outside of the university, joining us as part of a team which includes at least one Cambridge researcher or staff member

If you have any questions about eligibility or the programme, please contact us via email (see below).

Submit an Expression of Interest form, and we will contact you for a chat about your idea.

Places on the incubator are limited, and there is an expectation that you will actively participate and work with your programme peers. Sessions will be held in person, at least one team member should be present for each session and the final workshop.

“In addition, small bursaries and other support may be available to enable participation, for example, to cover travel for student researchers or early-career researchers who would otherwise face barriers to joining aspects of the programme.”

We’re glad to hear from researchers at any stage who are developing a social innovation project and want to access Cambridge Enterprise support, even if the incubator isn’t the right fit for you now. We offer a wide range of support for Cambridge researchers and entrepreneurs.

Apply here

Deadline for submission: 12 January 2026. The first round of applications will be reviewed on 12 January 2026. Applications made after this will be reviewed if spaces are still available.

Please feel free to contact us by email, ahss@enterprise.cam.ac.uk.