June 21, 2017, by The Ingenuity Lab

Say YES to awesomeness!

The Young Entrepreneurs Scheme (YES) has been in existence for 22 years and its alumni surpasses 5,400.

”Having been personally involved for all but one of those years, many people ask me ‘why?’. The answer is a simple one and a word used regularly by my five year old nephew describes the reason why perfectly; because it is AWESOME! It really is wonderful to be part of the YES family, whether working with the Biotechnology, Engineering, Environment or Singapore cohort” – Tracey Hassall-Jones

If you have not heard of YES, it is an initiative to raise awareness of the commercialisation of ideas among PhD and post-docs. At the same time, it provides a real insight into career opportunities.

So why choose YES?

YES provides so many benefits and here are just a few of them:

• The high energy that is exuded by the self-selecting PhD and post-docs when they attend the 3-day workshop.
• The platform it provides to showcase the world-renowned research that has been carried out within our UK universities and industries, benefitting not only society but the economy.
• The opportunity to learn directly from entrepreneurs, gaining a unique insight into career paths that can shape and inspire personal development.
• Blue-Sky thinking takes place in this environment which lends itself perfectly to the production of innovative ideas that are not hindered because they may not be commercially viable or scientifically possible yet.
• New knowledge is created within an exceptionally stimulating environment where experiential learning is at its very best; as one past participant said “…an absolutely great way to understand the process of how one takes a scientific idea and spins it out into a product.”
• It’s constantly evolving and changing. Each year is different and in 2017 one of the five workshops will focus on the industrial strategy challenges exploring the principles of clean energy technologies; robotics and artificial intelligence; satellites and space technologies; manufacturing processes and materials of the future, to name but a few.
• Professionals spanning a broad range of businesses and academia and from small to large organisations, dedicate their time to speak, mentor or judge. In 2016, more than 200 people from 79 organisations donated a total of 1321 hours!
• Strong collaborations are created with industry due to the close working of co-organisers at The University of Nottingham and the Research Councils. In 2015, research showed that every £1 of Research Council Funding for YES was matched by £2.89 from other sources.
• The Final will be held at The Royal Society in London again this year; a breath-taking venue with a rich historical heritage, the Society has organised some of the most important events in the scientific world over the past 350 years.

We want you to become involved too!

If you are a PhD or post-docs and wish to participate, check out our website at www.yescompetitions.co.uk.

If you are interested in learning more on how to get involved as a speaker, mentor or judge or to share your YES personal experiences drop me an email at admin@yescompetitions.co.uk. Together we can inspire the next generation of YES alumni!!

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