Royal Society Industry Fellowship

Royal Society Industry Fellowship
Name	Royal Society Industry Fellowship
Established	19xx
Awarded by	Royal Society
Country	United Kingdom
Type	Fellowship

Royal Society Industry Fellowship The Royal Society Industry Fellowship supports collaborations between academic researchers and commercial enterprises to accelerate innovation and technology transfer. It connects scientists and engineers with companies to translate research into products, services, and policies through funded secondments and joint projects. The scheme engages academic hosts, industry partners, and funders to foster knowledge exchange, commercialization, and workforce development.

Overview

The scheme operates within the remit of the Royal Society and complements initiatives such as the Innovate UK funding landscape, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council programs, and the European Research Council collaborations. It builds on precedents set by schemes like the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, the Wellcome Trust translational funding, and the Alan Turing Institute's industry partnerships. The fellowship sits alongside awards such as the Royal Society Wolfson Fellowship and interfaces with institutions including the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, the Imperial College London, and industrial partners such as AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Rolls-Royce Holdings, BP, Siemens, Unilever, ARM Holdings, Nesta, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, and Schlumberger.

Eligibility and Selection

Eligible applicants typically include academic staff from higher education institutions accredited by bodies like the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education and research organisations such as UK Research and Innovation members. Industry partners can be multinational corporations like Siemens AG and Schneider Electric, small and medium enterprises such as ARM Ltd. spinouts, or start-ups from accelerators like Cambridge Enterprise and Oxford University Innovation. Selection panels often feature peer reviewers drawn from academies including the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and members of the European Academies Science Advisory Council. Shortlisting criteria reference outputs recognised by awards like the Nobel Prize, the Copley Medal, and the Royal Medal, and may consider prior engagement with infrastructures including Diamond Light Source, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, and High Performance Computing Wales.

Fellowship Structure and Duration

Fellowships are structured as fixed-term secondments, sabbaticals, or joint appointments between universities (for example King's College London and University College London) and industry labs such as IBM Research and Microsoft Research. Typical durations align with schemes like the Marie Curie Fellowship timeline and can range from short-term visits to multi-year placements comparable to the Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowships or the Royal Society University Research Fellowships. Host agreements often reference intellectual property frameworks used by organisations such as Cambridge Innovation Capital and Oxford Sciences Innovation and draw on model contracts from entities like the Knowledge Transfer Network and the Enterprise Europe Network.

Funding and Benefits

Funding packages combine salary contributions, project costs, travel, and equipment support, mirroring elements found in grants from Horizon 2020, UK Research Partnership Investment Fund, and the Newton Fund. Benefits include access to industrial facilities such as National Grid testbeds, pharmaceutical laboratories at AstraZeneca sites, advanced manufacturing units at Rolls-Royce facilities, and computational resources from Hartree Centre. Fellows gain networking opportunities with trade bodies like the Confederation of British Industry and standards organisations such as British Standards Institution, and may receive mentorship from executives formerly of GlaxoSmithKline, BP, or Unilever.

Impact and Outcomes

Outcomes frequently include company spin-outs in the vein of DeepMind and ARM, patent filings with the European Patent Office, and translational publications in journals like Nature, Science, and The Lancet. The fellowship supports collaborations that have led to licensing agreements with firms such as Gates Foundation partners, regulatory interactions with agencies like the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and collaborations on infrastructure projects involving Highways England or Network Rail. Impact assessments use metrics similar to those employed by the Research Excellence Framework and funders such as UK Research and Innovation.

Notable Fellows and Partnerships

Notable fellows have included academics who previously collaborated with organisations like AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Siemens, Rolls-Royce, BP, Microsoft Research, IBM Research, DeepMind, ARM Ltd., Unilever, GSK, Schlumberger, Cambridge Enterprise, Oxford University Innovation, Wellcome Trust, Alan Turing Institute, Diamond Light Source, Hartree Centre, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, National Grid, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, Innovate UK, UK Research and Innovation, Academy of Medical Sciences, Royal Academy of Engineering, Confederation of British Industry, British Standards Institution, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Oxford Sciences Innovation, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, Horizon 2020, European Research Council, Nobel Prize, Copley Medal, Royal Medal, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Imperial College London, King's College London, University College London, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Francis Crick Institute, Babraham Institute, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics.

Category:Royal Society