Industry Innovation and Entrepreneurship PhD Event
Bringing industry, talented students and academics together to collaborate on opportunities for value through data technologies is core to our mission and community at Bayes and was the reason behind the Industry Innovation and Entrepreneurship Networking Event.
Our virtual event took place on Wednesday 27th May 2020, and welcomed more than 50 PhD students from across the College of Science and Engineering to learn more about how the Bayes community and its team can provide support for aspiring entrepreneurs in the form of business and technical mentoring.
Our event included a variety of individual presentations, a panel discussion and networking sessions.
Speakers included Prof Michael Rovatsos, Chair of Artificial Intelligence at the School of Informatics and Director of the Bayes Centre, who gave an overview of Bayes and our focus on building an ecosystem for collaboration between students and businesses. Craig Skeldon, Business Development Manager discussed Industry Opportunities for Students before Liza Sutherland, Entrepreneur in Residence, presented on student entrepreneurship; from start-up to scale-up and Danny Helson, Programme Manager at Informatics Ventures provided an overview on how Bayes support SMEs through our entrepreneurship community.
Our event concluded with a networking opportunity for Bayes members and partners to meet and make valuable connections with PhD students.
It was interesting to note from polls run during the event that from the student attendees, 50% stated they were interested in an academic career and 70% noted having entrepreneurial leanings, or even an entrepreneurial curiosity regarding a career following their studies.
The entrepreneurial journey is not for everyone, although it can provide another opportunity for some to build on their research and create new companies. There is a lot of entrepreneurial support available for those PhD’s who may wish to explore this further, and you are encouraged to get in touch with us to discuss.
For further information please contact Liza Sutherland (liza.sutherland@ei.ed.ac.uk) or Danny Helson (danny@informatics-ventures.com).
Bayes can support your business to identify talented students for industry projects (from MSc to PhD level) and academics for larger, more complex projects. The team also provide support for aspiring entrepreneurs (both students and members) in the form of business and technical mentoring.
Those who joined our event, may also be interested in the following opportunities:
- Find out more about the Bayes Innovation and Entrepreneurship offerings.
- Join the Bayes Centre Expert Register.
- Student Enterprise Services - Available to all students, staff, and alumni up to 2 years after graduation, Unique & valuable opportunity to make a 1-2-1 appointment with an adviser.
- Scottish Tech Army - volunteering opportunities in digital technology to combat COVID-19.
- Students as Change Agents - credit-bearing workshops aimed at tackling United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG) related challenges. Upcoming workshop deadline on Tuesday, 02 June 2020.