Commercialisation for researchers
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The commercialisation team works with researchers to provide guidance, practical advice and translational support to protect and transform research into new commercial opportunities.
Useful information
Intellectual property
- The different forms of intellectual property
- Guide to patents and patentability (PDF, 163kB)
- The patent process and timeline (PDF, 223kB)
- Guide to inventorship (PDF, 566kB)
- UK IPO training tools
Commercialisation
- What makes a good commercial project? (PDF, 533kB)
- Choosing a route to commercialisation (PDF, 529kB)
- Open Source Software Licensing (PDF, 248kB)
- Policy on spin out company formation (PDF, 305kB)
- Starting a company, a quick guide for researchers (PDF, 238kB)
- Revenue sharing scheme
- UEF | RED | University of Bristol
Other
Thinking of working with an external partner?
- Partnerships Portal: Information, guidance and signposting on working with external partners.
- Guide to Setting Up Activities with Partners: Live resource providing practical guidance
GDPR
Relevant information will be recorded on a secure database for the purpose of managing commercialisation activity and in line with GDPR it is only held for as long as is needed.
Identifying a commercialisation opportunity
You may identify opportunities during your research that could make a social or economic impact. This could be a new product, process, method, analytical technique or software program.
Contact us with your commercialisation idea.
Contact Us Early
If you think your research could be commercialised, let us know. We’ll meet you to talk about how the work arose, who was involved, any existing collaborations or commercial connections, and the stage of development of the work. Demonstrations, proofs of concept and any published (or in-draft) materials will help us to decide how to work with you to move this forward. It is important to contact us before the work has been disclosed outside of the university (eg through a presentation, poster, abstract or journal article) since this may make it very difficult or impossible to protect through patenting, which is often key to successful commercialisation.
Translating your research
The process of developing this research towards real world impact is what we call translation. Once a project has been identified, developing a commercialisation opportunity may require different approaches. Typical translation activities might include:
- Planning a commercial pathway
- Finding translational funding to take the research closer to commercialisation.
- Filing patents to protect any Intellectual Property
- Marketing the opportunity to companies or investors
- Finding investment and people needed to create spin out a company
Commercialising your research
There are couple ways to commercialise your opportunity with the two most common being a licence to an existing company or a licence to a newly formed spin out company, which could be a social enterprise.
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Available technologies
Licensing the technology to an existing company that has the resources and track record of bringing similar opportunities to market is often the best way to maximise impact from your work. If we license your technology, you (and your School) may be able to benefit from any revenue paid to the University by the company under the University’s a revenue sharing scheme.
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Our spin out companies
Spin out companies have become a very visible way of commercialising research opportunities. The University has one of the best track records for spin-out in the country. The commercialisation team has managed the creation of over 100 spin outs and have relationships with many leading investors. Becoming involved in a new business represents a serious but often rewarding time commitment and we can talk and support you through the process.