The Provision of an Evaluation Framework for the ICURE Programme

**Please note, no award is to be made for this procurement exercise**

Funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and Innovate UK, the £9.2 million ICURe pilot project aims to help accelerate the successful commercialisation of publicly funded university research, via licensing agreements and spin out companies. In addition, it aims to develop entrepreneurial skills and market knowledge in a new cadre of Early Career Researchers.

Under the pilot project, Early Career Researchers (ECRs) at the five SETsquared universities (Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey) and other selected universities, working with their Principal Investigator (PI) and a Business Mentor, are given tailored training, mentoring and funds to undertake focussed market validation and business model development to speed up the commercialisation of their ideas, technologies, products and services. Teams will gain invaluable marketplace knowledge and first-hand commercial experience, which will be taken back into the research environment to refine the ideas and technologies and to help direct research towards commercial opportunities. Successful outputs are expected to include the creation of university spin-out and start-up companies founded on the teams' ideas; the licensing of IP to an existing company for commercialisation; and research partnerships with industry.

At the start of the pilot over 140 applicants (in total for 5 rounds) are expected to apply, of which only 50% are expected to be successful teams, each team comprising of three people (Principal Investigator and Early Career Researchers). The successful cohorts then go on to receive the business training so, potentially, could be compared to the unsuccessful groups

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