Prospekt Partnership

Prospekt Partnership [ [http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/mfourman/blogs/news/2006/06/prospekt-partnership.html School of Informatics Official Blog] ] is an £8.25m initiative at the School of Informatics in the University of Edinburgh which aims to boost activities in Knowledge Transfer, Entrepreneurism, and Public Outreach over the next five years.

A £5m Scottish Government investment in commercialisation will build on £3.25m from the University and provide:
* a dedicated commercialisation team to pro-actively engage with industry
* refurbishment of two floors of Appleton Tower (adjacent to the Forum), providing 1,200m2 of commercialisation facilities hosting the above team, and a floor dedicated to industry collaboration
* programmes and activities to encourage entrepreneurship and resultant company formation
* international promotion of the School of Informatics and leverage of its global alumni network.

A leading figure in the electronics sector has been appointed to direct a programme that will strengthen Scotland’s growing reputation for advanced and applied computing science research and commercialisation.

Dr [http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/people/staff/John_Adams.html Colin Adams] has been named as Director of Commercialisation at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Informatics. A £42 million purpose built research facility, the Informatics Forum, part-funded by Scottish Executive and Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian, is under construction in Edinburgh city centre. The adjacent Appleton Tower is being refurbished to provide a Hub for informatics teaching, commercialisation and life-long learning. Together, these will form a world-leading facility for the new science of informatics.

Adams, a PhD in computer science from the university, will be charged with establishing a dedicated market-focused commercialisation team which will bridge the gap between industry demands and the world class research on offer.

He will manage industry relationships with global enterprises as well as those required to stimulate spinouts and growth in local SMEs.

He said: "Promoting the forum as a recognised international centre of excellence will attract world class talent and enable Scotland to compete against the very best. the Forum will play an important role in developing a sustainable computing science industry in Scotland." [ [http://business.scotsman.com/industry.cfm?id=917542006 Adams to head commercial arm of informatics centre, The Scotsman, June 23, 2006] ]

The University of Edinburgh's School of Informatics is considered one of Scotland's national assets and one of the top five locations in the world for computing science and information related research. The school has a research staff of over 130 individuals, and an academic staff of 75. Current enrollment includes around 250 research students, and 475 taught masters and undergraduate students. The school was ranked 1st in the UK according to the Guardian University Tables 2008 [ [http://browse.guardian.co.uk/education?SearchBySubject=true&Subject=Computer+sciences+and+IT Guardian University Tables 2008 — Computer Science & IT] ] .

Construction of [http://www.ed.ac.uk/news/050908informatics.html the Forum] is well-advanced, and the facility will be operational by the end of 2007. The project is also being supported by the University of Edinburgh, Scottish Higher Education Funding Council, the Wolfson Foundation and private donations.

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