£1m business brains
The Higher Education Funding Council for England launched a £1 million "brains into business" scheme with the Department for Education and Skills and the Department of Trade and Industry on Tuesday.
Eleven academics have been awarded new business fellowships, each worth £25,000 a year for four years. They will strengthen links between universities and industry and help to boost business success.
Institutions taking part include King's College and University College in London, and York, Sunderland, Sheffield, Bournemouth, Brunel and Hertfordshire universities.
Details: www.hefce.ac.uk
E-book security fears
Questions have been raised over e-book security after an article described a program that allows Microsoft Reader titles to be decrypted.
The effort was outlined on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Technology Review website. The programmer does not want to be identified for fear of prosecution under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Wade Roush, who wrote the article, points out that the program's existence, along with decryption efforts directed at other e-book formats from companies such as Adobe, highlights the vulnerabilities in copy protection codes. A Microsoft spokesperson said the claims had not been proven and were merely rumours.
Details: www.technologyreview.com/web/roush/roush083001.asp
BT widens links
BTexact Technologies, the company's advanced research and technology business, has signed an agreement with the Cambridge-MIT Institute.
The alliance will create a new business and management research presence at Adastral Park at Martlesham, aiming to accelerate delivery of the CMI programme to UK business through online courses seminars conferences and workshops.
Details: www.Btexact.com www.cmi.cam.ac.uk
Incubator hatches prize
The University of Abertay Dundee is celebrating the first anniversary of Embreonix, Scotland's first university-linked incubator unit for student start-up companies.
Accountancy firm KPMG awarded a £500 prize to John Milne and Richard Milne for the business "most likely to succeed". They have set up Dunsinane Technical Associates, a corporate web hosting and audio-video streaming specialist company.
The business incubator helps graduates of any age from any university turn ideas into a company by providing a business mentor, facilities and support during the start-up phase. The package includes enrolment on Abertay's one-year part-time diploma in entrepreneurship, covering business planning, management, marketing, accounting and product design.