Since January, Dr Sally Reynard—Researcher in the SPRINT Project, has been attending monthly two-day training sessions via the University of Birmingham’s flagship Medici Enterprise training programme.
The Medici Enterprise training programme runs from January to April each year and aims to support researchers to gain knowledge and confidence in working with business and commercialising their own research.
Image description: A photo of people sat on chairs in a large room attending training with a speaker in the background.
What does the Medici Enterprise training involve?
In January, the 2024 Medici Enterprise cohort began by learning about elevator pitches in relation to a component of their research or related skills that could be commercialised. Sally used this as an opportunity to speak about the collaborative evaluation research that she is leading with digital start-up company Get Ahead Mindset. The delegates also learnt about business plans, entrepreneurship and how to legally protect these endeavours.
Image description: A photo of a yellow sticky note with ‘pitch your business idea’ written on it, with a black felt tip pen, paper files and a notebook nearby.
In the February session, the focus was on commercial strategies, and business finance and leadership. The delegates heard from experts in these components and had many opportunities to ask questions and reflect upon points raised.
So, how has Sally found the Medici Enterprise training so far?
Check out this quote from Sally below:
“The Medici Enterprise training has been very insightful regarding collaboration with commercial partners and the potential future innovation and commercialisation of my research, and related skills and knowledge. It has also allowed me to network with researchers from wide-ranging disciplines from the University of Birmingham, and from different institutions from within the UK. I am very grateful for having the opportunity to attend the training programme, and the learning and opportunities it has already brought.”
Find out more about the SPRINT Project’s collaboration with start-up company Get Ahead Mindset here, and watch out for future blog posts in relation to this work!
Are you a researcher who is interested in applying for next year’s Medici Enterprise training? Take a look at the University of Birmingham’s online information here.
Image credit: Canva.
Written by Dr Sally Reynard, Postdoctoral Researcher in the SPRINT Project.