News

A toolkit that facilitates research & innovation (R&I) enablers to engage in discussions about R&I culture has been launched. Here at PraxisAuril we are proud to have been part of the development of this key culture change tool as part of a team from across the sector.

SENSICA - a company borne out of University of Exeter research - has raised more than £2 million from existing investors, to take its cell rejuvenation technology to aid healthy ageing to the next stage of development. SENISCA has developed a technology to combat and reverse the aesthetic and disease-causing aspects of ageing, aimed at enabling people to live healthy lives for longer.

Join PraxisAuril members in an exploratory discussion of KPIs and frameworks to capture social value arising from knowledge exchange.

Research England has published a report detailing the findings of the review of the first iteration of the Knowledge Exchange Framework. The report brings together the wide variety of feedback that the funder has gathered through the KEF review and sets out proposals for future KEF developments in the short, medium and long term.

I’m sure you are all looking forward to a break as we approach the festive season and I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to all those who have worked so hard to support PraxisAuril activities this year, volunteer and exec team alike – and to all of you who have participated in them.

As part of our regular rotation schedule, a Directorship on the PraxisAuril Board will become available on 1 January 2022.  Applications are invited from PraxisAuril members for appointment to the Board for a 4-year term.

It’s been a few months since that hugely powerful session at this year’s PraxisAuril Conference when we gave the prime plenary slot on the final day over to a discussion on Diversity in KE. It was a real privilege to Chair a session in which four brilliant speakers spoke so candidly from the heart about their own experiences - and which then quickly developed into one of the most fast and furious Zoom chats I’ve ever experienced, with a very large audience participating enthusiastically in the discussion! [You can still watch that recording HERE]. Such energy from PraxisAuril members and the KE sector at large to get involved and support the EDI agenda - truly inspiring.

A new company developing medicines for patients with debilitating chronic conditions; an innovative digital platform bringing the craft of knitting into the 21st century; a lightweight robotic glove empowering patients with hand weakness - these are just some of the ideas that triumphed at the 2021 Converge Awards, Scotland’s annual celebration of academic innovation and entrepreneurship.

Edinburgh; Wednesday 8 September 2021: The finalists for Converge 2021, Scotland’s largest entrepreneurial development programme for the university sector, have been revealed. Exemplifying the cream of Scotland’s innovation pool, and hailing from institutions across the nation, 28 academic entrepreneurs are now through to the Converge Awards Final which takes place on 30 September 2021.

We are thrilled to introduce a new member organisation to the PraxisAuril community, Ship Shape Search Ltd. Ship Shape are joining over 180 organisation (and over 5000 individual) members in the ever-growing network of Knowledge Exchanges professionals

The Engage Unconference will take place online from Monday 11th October to Friday 12th November and includes the Engage Exhibition, an opportunity to share engagement practice – the good, the bad and the ugly. This call for contributions is an invitation to help create conversations and actions that will support the sector to enact meaningful change over the years to come. 

Last month saw nearly 500 KE professionals from across the UK sign up to attend the second all-virtual PraxisAuril conference, again held online due to COVID-19 restrictions. Four hundred and sixty delegates from 118 organisations signed up for the three-day event, that comprised of shared insights from those at the frontline of vaccine and healthcare, interactive workshops, case-studies and stakeholder interactions.

This year’s Knowledge Exchange (KE) Awards are open for nominations from 9th June to 21st July 2021. The awards were launched at PraxisAuril’s 2021 conference ‘Review, Regroup, Revolution’ by PraxisAuril CEO, Maxine Ficarra, and PraxisAuril founder and Patron, Dr David Secher.

Academic entrepreneurs from across Scotland’s university sector are now through to the next stage of the Converge programme. Split across four challenge categories – Converge, Creative, Impact and KickStart – all 18 of Scotland’s universities are represented in the final shortlist.

Following the invitation to the broader community for nominations to the PraxisAuril board earlier this year, I am delighted to announce that we have three new members.

Leaders from across the university-sector have expressed concern of the significant risk to UK research funding firstly as a consequence of cuts to overseas development aid and, more recently, in response to reports that the UK’s association to Horizon Europe will be met from existing research budgets. We whole heartedly concur with these concerns and urge the Government to protect the UK’s world-class research base and innovation environment.

The latest KEC progress statement has been released today, including a supportive statement on behalf of PraxisAuril from our Chair Dr Iain Thomas.

Anjuu Trevedi, Head of Regional Business Engagement at the University of Leicester, has been awarded an MBE in the 2021 New Year’s honours list, for services to business innovation and to the economy in Leicestershire.

Welcome to 2021 – a year that starts with as many, but different, challenges as 2020 ended on because of the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. However, thanks to the combined efforts of academic research and industry partners there is light at the end of this particular tunnel.