Frequently Asked Questions What activities are supported by the Fellowships? The Enterprise Fellowships provide: A year s salary to provide time to develop a full business plan and seek investment Up to 10,000 in support funds Access to mentors, business experts and professional advisors Cutting edge business training to help develop the required skills. Membership to the RSE Entrepreneurs Club The aim is that Enterprise Fellows spend a year developing the commercial business case for a spin out company. When does an RSE Enterprise Fellowship begin? Enterprise Fellowships normally begin on 1 April and 1 October each year. For the 31 October deadline you will start the Enterprise Fellowship on 1 st April 2019. What financial support does the Enterprise Fellowship provide? Enterprise Fellowships provide up to 39,992 salary support, plus National Insurance and Pension costs over 12 months. A further support fund of up to 10,000 is available for costs directly related to the Enterprise Fellowship, such as equipment, consultancy, legal costs, and attendance at conferences and trade shows. Business training costs are covered by the Enterprise Fellowship. In addition those Enterprise Fellows supported by Scottish Enterprise receive a further 3,000 in funding for travel and subsistence costs related to the business training. Do I need to have had previous funding from the funders? For Scottish Enterprise and BP supported Enterprise Fellowships you do not need to have previously received funded from Scottish Enterprise. For BBSRC and STFC* supported Enterprise Fellowships, your project must be related to previous BBSRC funded research. You will need to be able to demonstrate that your proposal draws substantially on the outputs of previous research funding.
Is a company eligible to apply? Companies cannot apply. The scheme is only open to individuals who can be hosted by an academic institution or research institute. Only one individual from the team can apply at a time. What stage of development should my product or idea be at when I apply? If you plan to spend the year doing further research you are not yet ready. Enterprise Fellowships are there to support projects that have already demonstrated both commercial and technical proof of concept. You are expected to work full time towards developing an investment ready business plan. There is a part-time option for BBSRC funded Enterprise Fellowships. For BBSRC funded Fellowships it is not a pre-requisite to have received Proof of Concept, however applicants are encouraged to consider the benefit of Follow-on- Funding to their project, notably with regards to commercial proof of concept prior to applying. See the following link on the BBSRC website. What does the Business Training consist of? The RSE Enterprise Fellowship Programme is built around a structured programme of business training and guided entrepreneurship that starts with a 4 day induction week followed monthly thereafter by a series of 1 or 2 day training sessions, held at venues across the UK. These sessions cover the issues, opportunities and challenges, strategic as well as operational, that are faced by every founder of every new business. Topics covered during the course of the Enterprise Fellowship year range from an introduction to the fundamentals of business; corporate governance, and building & recruiting management teams and employees; all aspects of business finance, financing the business, business and financial planning, investment & sales forecasting; product marketing and the fundamentals of inbound marketing; the business development process and managing your product. There are sessions on personal presentation skills and we also spend time examining the personal and professional challenges that all founders face when starting and growing a business. Its highly interactive as well as being demanding and rewarding. Can I carry out the Business Training elsewhere? No, the business training provided by the Entrepreneur Business School is mandatory and attending the training (and other events) with your cohort is an important feature of the programme. Your cohort form just one of the networks that can benefit your business. Do I find my own mentor or is one provided? As part of the Enterprise Fellowship programme the Entrepreneur Business School provides a mentor for each Enterprise Fellow, however, you are encouraged and shown how to build your own network of contacts, business mentors as well as professional and personal advisors.
Can I use my own mentor if I already have one? Yes, however a key part of the Enterprise Fellowship programme is to build a network of mentors and advisors with experience of industry and business to extend your existing framework of university or research mentors. Are there any nationality or other eligibility restrictions? Applicants must confirm that they are able to remain and work legally in the UK for the duration of the Enterprise Fellowship. The RSE cannot take responsibility for applying for visas/work permits. I have just set up a spin out company, can I apply? Projects that have secured considerable grant and/or equity funding may not be eligible to apply but it is important to check with the RSE as advice can be provided on a case by case basis. Shell companies that are not trading and that have not secured external investment can apply. Where a project has received grant funding that is close to the upper limit of de minimus State Aid the applicant must check with the RSE that being awarded an SE Enterprise Fellowship does not take them over the legal limit. How will my proposal be assessed? Unlike standard grant applications your proposal will not be peer reviewed by external referees but will be assessed by an independent expert selection committee including Fellows of the RSE and representatives of the funders who possess experience in the commercialisation of research. What criteria do the panel use when assessing applications? The case for support should address all four of these headings. 1. The effectiveness of the technology: The proposal needs to demonstrate that the research underlying their idea is sufficiently developed to enable them to begin to develop commercial plans. 2. The commercial potential: Applicants must clearly identify the realistic commercial potential of their idea including: potential benefits to customers, market need, robustness of the IPR position and exploitation strategy and demonstrate that there is a potential opportunity stemming from their idea. Those applying for a Scottish Enterprise supported Enterprise Fellowship must demonstrate understanding of the market potential and discuss how their proposed project will enter a market or a segment of a wider market with the potential for high growth and/or offering value. 3. The strength of the proposed route to commercialisation: Applicants must identify a plausible commercialisation strategy for the business idea and include evidence of how the project will be managed, including identification of commercial milestones. Applicants should demonstrate what they intend to achieve during their 12 month Fellowship which should not include significant amounts of developmental research.
4. The entrepreneurial potential of the applicant: Although the Enterprise Fellowship aims at developing the entrepreneurial skills of the Enterprise Fellows, applicants will need to demonstrate a broad understanding of the commercialisation process, full time commitment to the fellowship and motivation and drive to succeed. Can I apply for Follow-on Funding and the Enterprise Fellowship at the same time? Yes. However, applicants will need to demonstrate full commitment to the Enterprise Fellowship as this is a full-time position for a year with a part-time option available for BBSRC. It is therefore anticipated that further technical proof of concept via the Follow on Fund, will NOT be carried out by the Fellows themselves. In addition, Follow-on Funding (Pathfinder and FoF) is aimed at providing commercial and technical proof of concept, respectively. If you are still seeking to achieve initial proof of concept then you are unlikely to be ready for an Enterprise Fellowship. Why does the Technology Transfer Office (TTO) have to sign the application? You should identify your host University or Research Institute before completing your application. It is your responsibility to contact them and organise this within at least 6 weeks prior to the application deadline. The funders are looking to see that there is a real commitment from your host institution to carry forward the potential business. The TTO statement must show the support they have given you to date and how they will continue to help you during the Fellowship. University TTOs have in-depth expertise in the commercialisation of research outputs. You will be working in partnership with your host Institution TTO during your Fellowship year to ensure the best outcomes possible for your technology or idea. It is important that your host institution TTO knows of you and that you are able to draw on the support available to you. It is important to note that by agreeing to the terms of the Enterprise Fellowship the host institution is also accepting an obligation to offer, for a period of 18 months, an option to all intellectual property relating to the technology under development. How soon after interview will I hear if I have been successful or not? We usually aim to communicate decisions within 2-3 weeks of the date of interview. Is feedback provided if I am unsuccessful? Yes, we provide brief feedback summarising the views of the selection panel. How will the RSE monitor my progress? Enterprise Fellows are required to provide quarterly reports to the RSE on the progress of their business development. The reports are fed back to the funders of the Enterprise Fellowships.
Can I apply again if I am unsuccessful? If you were unsuccessful in a previous round then you can reapply up to three times as long as your second application shows that you have acted on the feedback from the previous application. Applicants for the BBSRC Enterprise Fellowships can only reapply, if invited to do so. If you have previously been awarded an Enterprise Fellowship then you may not reapply. Who should I contact to discuss my commercialisation proposal before applying? Scottish Enterprise, contact Marjory Sweeney. BBSRC, contact David Hendry. BP and QuantIC, contact Hannah Chater. *Please note that STFC, QuantIC and NERC funding is not available for this round. Who should I contact about the application process? Please contact Hannah Chater, Enterprise Officer Where can I find more information? Please visit https://www.rse.org.uk/awards/enterprise-fellowships/ where you will find links to our Terms & Conditions, Case Studies and more!