Innovation is the lifeblood of a vibrant economy – but in Europe, it’s often said, a risk-averse culture in its universities prevents innovative ideas from getting out of the labs and into the marketplace.

To help change that culture, the first Europe-wide awards for academic enterprise are being launched, with a coalition of leading European universities, multinational corporations, foundations, and the Science|Business news service. The awards will be promoted at a series of events and on-line activities through 2008/9, and will be overseen by the Science|Business Innovation Board. The programme will culminate in a conference and awards ceremony in Stockholm in December 2008.

For founders of successful spin-out companies, one each for:

• ICT

• Life Sciences

• Energy/Environment

• Materials/Chemistry

• The Young Entrepreneur

• The Fast Start (for new spin-outs)

For an individual who enabled campus enterprise

The awards will give public recognition to those researchers, engineers, professors, students and government officials in Europe who have done the most in 2008 to foster a culture of enterprise on campus. This can be through taking the risk of launching a spin-out company, developing a discovery into a marketable innovation (even at the risk of the tenure-track publication record), or promoting policies that create a receptive environment for entrepreneurship on campus.

Unlike other awards, these will focus on university enterprise and look across Europe – furthering efforts to improve the flow of ideas out of European laboratories and into the marketplace.

The prizes are open to academic entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship enablers throughout Europe. Nominations may come unsolicited from individuals using the form (see the Nominations page), or from participating universities and sponsors.

For more information on how your university or company can join the ACES programme, please contact luca.segantini@sciencebusiness.net.

2 December, 2008 – at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm

It’s good to start a company on campus – or is it? That’s a question being posed more frequently these days on universities and research institutes across Europe, as researchers push harder to get their discoveries developed and adopted in society. This conference, linked to the ACES Academic Enterprise Awards, provides an opportunity for researchers, investors, university administrators and policy-makers to examine the “start-up” trend – and get practical tips and contacts for making a success of it.

Read more about this event and register for free

Come to the ACES Awards Dinner!

2 December, 2008. At the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering, from 19:00.

Find out who are the top university entrepreneurs in Europe – as judged by the Science|Business Innovation Board of leaders in industry, academia and policy. The Board will be meeting privately during the day to make its final decision on winners.

Reserve your seat now