Entrepreneurs put on research cap

Specialist posts, sabbaticals and secondments for academics and captains of industry and staff training have emerged as Scottish university strategies to exploit the commercial potential of research.

Fourteen universities and colleges have won support under a three-year Pounds 6 million scheme jointly funded by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council and the Scottish Executive in a bid to boost a more entrepreneurial attitude towards research. Support ranges from Pounds 454,000 for Edinburgh University to Pounds 15,000 for the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.