INNOVATIVE projects at the University of Huddersfield have earned special recognition in a major Government report.
The study is an in-depth look at collaboration between industry and Higher Education and how it can boost the economy.
The report is written by Professor Sir Tim Wilson, who is a strong advocate for the role that universities can play in economic regeneration. He issued a call for the UK to build on the world-class reputation of its universities, in order to boost growth and attract inward investment.
He includes a sequence of case studies in the document, and one of them deals with the University of Huddersfield’s Business Mine – which provides advice and practical help to entrepreneurial students and recent graduates – and the award-winning Graduate Entrepreneurship Project, which is based at the University.
Sir Tim also draws attention to the £11.5m Enterprise and Innovation Centre nearing completion at the University and designed to play a major role in regenerating the local and regional economy.
Sir Tim said: “Founded in 2004, the University of Huddersfield’s Business Mine supports students and graduates starting up their own business through a series of events: one-to-one business advice, hot-desk office space, and access to micro-finance.
“An Enterprise Placement Year helps students start up their own business during their placement year.
“The Business Mine is supported by the Huddersfield-led ERDF-funded Graduate Entrepreneurship Project – a collaboration of start-up units across the ten universities of Yorkshire and the Humber, providing funds for micro-finance, delivering regional events and sharing best practice”.
The University of Huddersfield’s head of enterprise, Dr Kelly Smith, said: “We are delighted that the University has been recognised as a leader in the field of enterprise and entrepreneurship education, with our work highlighted in the Wilson Review.”
Dr Smith is the current chair of Enterprise Educators UK and a member of the panel producing the QAA Guidelines for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Education which both feature in the Review report.
The Graduate Entrepreneurship Project (GEP) – which originated in 2001 – is led by the University of Huddersfield, and is a collaboration between all eleven universities and higher education institutes in the Yorkshire region.
It has helped to create hundreds of new jobs and businesses.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield, Prof Bob Cryan, was a member of the Advisory Board to the Review of Business-University Collaboration.