RSC Emerging Technolgies Competition 2016

The Emerging Technologies Competition is the Royal Society of Chemistry’s (RSC) annual innovation initiative that aims to turn promising ideas from the chemical sciences into commercial reality. Now in its fourth year, the 2016 competition brings cutting edge science to the real world for the benefit of society. The competition is currently open and applications can be made through the on-line application system. The entry deadline for applications is 14 March 2016.

The RSC Emerging Technologies Competition in 2016 aims to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative technologies in the following areas:

• Health & well-being
• Energy & environment
• Food & water
• Materials

The competition is free to enter and open to small companies, universities, and research institutions. Entered ideas can be at any stage of development and from anywhere in Europe.

Short-listed entrants will be invited to present their ideas to a panel of expert judges at the competition final, which takes place at the RSC’s Chemistry Means Business 2016. This high-profile two-day event brings together professionals from across the chemistry-using community and will take place on 15 and 16 June.

Prizes
The Competition prizes are designed to help take the ideas to the next level. There are three for each category, and benefits for short-listed entrants, too.

All 40 short-listed entrants will receive business training and a free exhibition stand at Chemistry Means Business 2016. This is a chance to showcase your technology to more than 300 delegates – including potential investors – and get insights from opinion leaders in industry.

The first-, second- and third-place winners in each competition category will receive tailored business support from one of the competition’s partner companies including access to networks, strategy review, potential commercial partnerships, idea evaluation with consumers and more. The winners also receive exposure for the winning technologies including support with media coverage, including a feature in the RSC’s Chemistry World magazine. And there are also cash prizes of up to £20,000 (First prize £20,000, second prize £3,000 and third prize £2,000).

The video below includes highlights of the 2015 Emerging Technologies competition including interviews with some of the winners and partner organisations.

Got ideas for a Sustainable Future?

YourFormula.eu – the Sustainability blogging platform - is running a great new competition: “Your ideas for a sustainable future”. The competition aims to encourage young people living in the EU to share their views on how chemistry can ensure that the way we live on our planet and use its resources becomes more sustainable. The best entry wins an iPad!


The YourFormula.eu competition is aimed at students and young professionals and is all about “chemistry for a sustainable future” – so we hope to see some creative “SusChem-style thinking”!

In 2050, more than 9 billion people will live on our planet. If we don’t change our behaviours, we will need the resources of three of our planets to meet the demands of this soaring population.

Innovation
Through innovation based on chemistry, we can provide solutions to this shortfall in key areas such as food production, energy, water, health and climate change.

Interested!? Then check out: “What is chemistry’s role in building a sustainable future?” and get thinking about what contribution sustainable chemistry will be making to a better future for everyone. Why not take a look at the SusChem website for some ideas and inspiration?

YourFormula is looking for original and creative thinking and your opinions. Entries can be submitted as:

• A Youtube video;
• A slideshow presentation, or
• An image (such as a poster, an infographic or an advertisement).

Entries are sought from students and young professionals aged between 18 to 30 from the EU. You can submit entries directly onto the site and the contest runs until 15 July.

The best entry will be selected via a combination of a judging panel and the number of times entries are ‘liked’. ‘retweeted’ and otherwise shared via social media. The winner gets an iPad Mini.

To know more about YourFormula visit the website. You can also follow YourForumula on Twitter and on Facebook.

New EU prize celebrates Innovative Women

The role of female innovators is being highlighted by a new EU prize. Women make a continuing and vital contribution to Europe's research scene, developing, managing and commercialising the results of myriad studies that impact sectors across the continent.

However turning bright ideas and research into commercial success is an issue in Europe. This latest initiative for encouraging and fuelling the participation of women in innovative enterprises is the European Union Women Innovators prize. The idea is to reward three of Europe’s top women innovators, who have seen the fruits of their labour successfully go to market.

The prize will bolster awareness of why innovation is important, and why an increasing number of women entrepreneurs are needed in both research and industry. These womens’ success can, in turn, foster innovation and enterprise in other women.

How to get involved?
Interested parties must meet six conditions in order to participate in the competition. The contestant must be:

• a woman living in either a EU Member States or a country associated to the EU's Research Framework Programme;
• a founder or co-founder of an active company;
• their company must have been registered before 1 January 2009;
• their company should have posted a turnover of at least €100,000 in 2010;
• the contestant must be a recipient of EU funding from either the EU Research Framework Programme or Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) - either as an individual or through the business founded/co-founded by the contestant;
• the candidate must be active in research and innovation activities, linked to the origin of the product or services, provided by the company she founded or co-founded.

Those keen, and qualified, to take part in the contest must submit their applications by 20 September 2011 at the Women Innovators prize application site. The winning contestants will be notified in mid November.

A total of €175,000 in prize money is on offer! The first prize is worth €100,000, second prize €50,000 and third prize €25,000. An independent panel of judges from academia and industry will assess and select the winning candidates. An award ceremony will take place during the European Commission Innovation Convention taking in Brussels, Belgium on 5 December 2011.

What is in a name?

The competition to find a new name for the next EU Research and Innovation Programme was launched today (28 March). You have until 10 May to suggest a relevant, appealing and catchy name for the new EU research and innovation programme which will be introduced after 2013.

The competition is linked to the ongoing stakeholder consultation on the Commission's Green Paper on the programme that was launched on 9 February.

The programme currently labours under the working title of the 'Common Strategic Framework' (CSF) and aims to be at the core of the Innovation Union initiative and the Europe 2020 Strategy.

The Commission's Green Paper also provides the basis for far-reaching
simplification of procedures and rules. Stakeholders have until 20 May 2011 to respond to this main consultation.

Competition
Introducing the competition European Commissioner for Research and Innovation, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn (below),said: "The Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development have served Europe well and are still creating growth and jobs and improving quality of life. But our new programme for research and innovation will be a new departure and a new adventure, so we need a new name. We need to connect with stakeholders and the public and to raise the political and media profile of our work, which in turn can boost participation and improve results."

This new "identity" must be easily associated with research and innovation, while also being original, memorable, easy to pronounce and spell and be meaningful in a wide range of European languages.

You name it!
Your proposal for the name of the new programme should be submitted via http://ec.europa.eu/research/csfri/index_en.cfm where rules and conditions can also be found. The competition is open until 10 May to everyone except employees of the European institutions and their direct family members.

An international jury will select three proposals to be put to a public online vote in the late spring/ early summer. The jury members will include academics, entrepreneurs, and branding and communication experts.

The winning name will be announced by Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn at the conference concluding the current consultation on the CSF that is taking place on 10 June in Brussels. The winner will get an expenses paid trip to the European Innovation Convention in Brussels at the end of this year, and he or she will meet the Commissioner and other leading political, scientific and business figures.

Please feel free to share you suggestions for the new programmes name with SusChem News. We will publish our favourites before the 10 June conference!

Got a Good Bio-based Business Idea?

During 2011 and 2012, the SusChem inspired European project BIOCHEM will provide entrepreneurs wishing to develop new bio-based products with a unique opportunity to promote their company and meet face-to-face with top European biotech investors, venture capitalists and other industry players.


Four ‘Accelerator Fora’ are being organised by BIOCHEM as part of its mission to boost innovation by smaller enterprises in the emerging bio-based sector.

The first forum is now scheduled for 5-7 October in Milan. In 2012, two more fora will be held in Frankfurt and in London. The first forum was initially planned for Madrid in May 2011 but this has now been postponed until 2012.

Networking is key
The BIOCHEM Accelerator Forum offers a partnering system to assist in identifying potential partners from academia and industry, venture capitalists and test facilities all over Europe.

Recent research is showing that this type of networking is critical to small business success in the biotech sector. Writing in the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Cristina Sousa and colleagues at "INETI" - the National Institute of Engineering, Technology and Innovation based in Lisbon, Portugal claim that the opportunities that arise, and whether or not they are exploited by biotechnology entrepreneurs, depends to a large extent on how well connected the individual business person is and how well they mobilise their social network.