Welcome

Partnering for Innovation is a programme being run across the University of Otago to encourage innovation and commercialisation. It is part of Enterprise South Island, a joint initiative between the University of Otago, the University of Canterbury, and Lincoln University. The programme is supported by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) through an “Encouraging and Supporting Innovation (E&SI)” grant.

The principal objective of Partnering for Innovation is to develop innovation within the science, health and business communities of the university by working with you to overcome hurdles that may crop up between realising your "Bright Idea" and launching your product. As part of this programme you will have the opportunity to work with, and be mentored by, our Entrepreneur in Residence.

Our Goals:

To visit departments and increase awareness of commercialisation.
To help staff and students bridge the gap between the research bench and commercialising their idea.
To demonstrate that it is possible to attain both academic achievement and commercial success
To develop some ideas through to a commercial product or a company start up.
To provide additional skills to interested graduates.

Everybody that we work with is treated individually. We are flexible because the ideas that we are working with vary widely and need very different things for them to be successful. On the 28th of August 2009 we gave a seminar discussing what we had done with researchers to date. The slides from this presentation can be downloaded here.

There are two unique aspects of this project, one is the collaboration between Otago, Lincoln and Canterbury Universities and the other is the involvement of industry representatives. For more information on the project involving the three South Island Universities, please visit Enterprise South Island.

What's Happening

Partnering for Innovation 2010 Seminar Programme

The Partnering for Innovation Seminar Programme is being run again in Dunedin this year. The speakers people who are involved in various stages of developing a technology based business, from initial development of the idea through to marketing and selling. There are 10 presentations, which will be held fortnightly, from the end of April.

If you are interested in participating please contact Victoria on 479 8454 or victoria.jameson@otago.ac.nz to register. Further details on last years programmes is available in courses.

2009 Ideas Stocktake

Do you have an idea that you think may have commercial potential? Would you like someone to investigate the commercial possibilities for you?

We are running the Ideas Stocktake again this year. This involves you meeting with a senior undergraduate student for an hour and explaining your idea to them. The student, with guidance from us, willconduct the research required to assess your idea from a commercial perspective.

If you are interested in participating contact Victoria on 03 479 8454 or victoria.jameson@otago.ac.nz. Further details are available in processes.