Our annual Aegis event is a chance for colleagues to meet our Aegis Professors – experts from business and industry – and get their insights on partnerships, research impact and much more. This was the first event we have held since the merger of the Science and Engineering faculties and we were very pleased that three Aegis Professors in Engineering have joined our existing Science cohort.

The afternoon began with talks from two of the Aegis Professors on influential networking projects which they have played a crucial part in establishing and which make the most of both University people and external contacts.

Professor Anike Te talked with Dr Kerstin Kinkelin, Innovation Manager from the Bristol Biodesign Institute, about the forthcoming British-Swiss summit in Synthetic and Engineering Biology. The summit will bring a variety of British and Swiss organisations together to discuss the future role of synthetic and engineering biology and influence policy development.

Professor John Thompson and Associate Professor James Byrne from Earth Sciences spoke about the Earth Sciences Partnership Network they have recently set up. The Network’s aim is to support the School in both research and education by consulting industry and policy representatives on the research and graduate skills they would like to see.

Small group discussions followed, with participants able to question the Professors on themes such as research in industry and academia, Industrial Advisory Boards, intellectual property and how to make the best of networks. Colleagues were very engaged and the room was buzzing with conversation!

Following the event, participants are already contacting our Aegis Professors to seek their advice and guidance. If you think a chat with one of them would be helpful, email aegis-professors@bristol.ac.uk and we’ll put you in touch.