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 have been made, with a coalition of leading European universities, multinational corporations, foundations, and the Science|Business news service. The awards were promoted at a series of events and on-line activities through 2008/9, and are overseen by the Science|Business Innovation Board. The programme culminated in Sweden with a conference at the Karolinska Institutet and an awards ceremony at IVA, the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering, on 2 December 2008.

Details of the 2009 ACES awards programme will be announced in January 2009.

Stockholm, 2 December, 2008

Academic entrepreneurs from across Europe were named last night as the winners of the inaugural Academic Enterprise Awards 2008, at a ceremony on 2 December.

The winners are:

Chemistry/Materials - Andrew Lynn, Orthomimetics Ltd, a spin-out from the Cambridge-MIT Institute, UK, that has developed implants that can be accurately delivered using minimally invasive, single-step procedures.

Life Sciences - Neville H. McClenaghan, Peter R Flatt and Finbarr P.M. O'Harte, Diabetica Ltd, a Northern Ireland spin-out from the University of Ulster's Diabetes Research Group that is developing therapeutics, diagnostics and other technologies to treat Type II diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome.

ICT - Pasquale Pigazzini, Augusto Sarti and Stefano Tubaro, Kee Square, a spin-out from the Politecnico di Milano, Italy, that is developing security products that combine high-end image and audio analysis and processing techniques with classification techniques.

Energy/Environment - Adel Sharif, Surrey Acquatechnology Ltd, UK. Sharif's company, a spin-out from the University of Surrey, is developing water purification and desalination technologies.

Fast Start - Gandert Van Raemdonck, Hjalmar Van Raemdonck, Ephicas BV. The company, a spin-out from TU Delft, the Netherlands, Ephicas is developing and producing aerodynamic devices for lorry trailers that reduce fuel consumption up to 15%, saving fuel costs and reducing pollution.

The evening culminated with the announcement of The Bridge Award, for an individual who has done the most to promote policies for entrepreneurship in university or public research institutions. Three outstanding individuals shared the prize.

Tom Hockaday from Isis Innovation, University of Oxford, UK.

Eleanor Taylor from Scottish Enterprise, Scotland, UK.

Hans Wigzell from Karolinska Institutet, Sweden

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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

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

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.