Isis Innovation Ltd and the Natural Environment Research Council
Press Release

Partners in the business of science

The commercialisation of good scientific ideas has taken a step forward this week with the start of a partnership that will encourage researchers to exploit their science.

Isis Enterprise, part of Isis Innovation Ltd, Oxford University’s Technology Transfer Company, has joined forces with the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) to support the transfer of technology from NERC's four wholly-owned research centres. Isis will work with NERC to increase licensing and create spinout companies.

NERC has, for some years, recognised the need to exploit its science and technology potential. Over the past five years it has launched an Innovation Fund to stimulate fresh commercial activity, initiated a Business Plan Competition to encourage researchers to think about the business potential of their research and introduced a team of "exploitation scouts" in its research centres, who are on the lookout for good scientific ideas with commercial possibilities.

The partnership with Isis Enterprise is the next step in creating a commercialisation pipeline that will provide comprehensive support for exploiting ideas across all NERC activities.

"Technology transfer is a long-term activity and we believe that the partnership between Isis and NERC will provide benefits to both," said Dr Tim Cook, Managing Director of Isis Innovation Ltd.

"The potential contributions, both financial and non-financial, that effective technology transfer can make to the UK economy are significant and often under exploited. The increasing public interest in the commercialisation of research is drawing in new funding and improved policies to support technology transfer. More organisations are developing an interest in the exploitation of their Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). This emerging market is one where Isis is often called upon to share its expertise with other world-class organisations as they gear themselves up to exploit more of their IPR and research."

Notes for editors:

1. Isis Innovation Ltd. is Oxford University's technology transfer company. It provides researchers with commercial advice, funds patent applications and legal costs, negotiates exploitation and spin-out company agreements, and identifies and manages consultancy opportunities for University researchers. It is a subsidiary of Oxford University and has established itself as one of the best University technology transfer companies in the UK. http://www.isis-innovation.com/
2. NERC is one of eight UK Research Councils. It uses a budget of about £300m a year to fund and carry out impartial scientific research in the sciences of the environment. NERC trains the next generation of independent environmental scientists. It is addressing some of the key questions facing mankind such as global warming, renewable energy and sustainable economic development. www.nerc.ac.uk
3. NERC's four wholly-owned research centres are: The British Antarctic Survey, the British Geological Survey, the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory.

More information:

Dr Mark Mawhinney, General Manager, Isis Enterprise:
T +44 (0) 1865 280830
E mark.mawhinney@isis.ox.ac.uk

Marion O'Sullivan, Senior Press Officer, NERC:
T +44 (0) 1793 411727
Mobile +44 (0) 7917 086369

Ruth Collier, Press Officer, University of Oxford:
T +44 (0) 1865 280532