Postgraduate and postdoctoral students at Cambridge are being offered the chance to participate in the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning’s Enterprisers programme from June 1-4 for free, courtesy of generous support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

‘Enterprisers’ has been run by the Centre for Entrepreneurial learning (CfEL) since 2003 as a four day residential course for 64 students with 16 facilitators acting as mentors throughout.

There are around 40 places left on the June programme which is also open to EPSRC-funded students across the UK. The intensive programme is designed to provide a dynamic, confidence-building environment where participants can unlock entrepreneurial potential as well as developing key communication and creative skills. In addition, students can learn new ways of thinking about their research, particularly in terms of increasing the impact of ideas and their application to the community. The skills gained on Enterprisers are equally applicable to developing a new venture, a student society, a community project and indeed research projects going forward.

The EPSRC has been funding Enterprisers programme since 2008. Previous students have found it a rewarding and productive experience.

Dr Elisa De Ranieri is currently a Research Scientist at the Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory and participated in Enterprisers in May 2008. She said: “I signed up because I wanted to broaden my entrepreneurial skills, and I did not expect what the programme turned out to be... it definitely exceeded my expectations! The main benefit of the programme was that it developed a 'go and do it' attitude which was only latent and definitely necessary in entrepreneurial individuals. The other great thing about the programme was that it offered the opportunity to meet like-minded and bright people amongst the participants and the facilitators. ‘Enterprisers’ has been a test bench to know better my professional and personal limits and real motivations.”

Theodoros Koutroukides, a PhD Candidate at the Department of Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology, University of Cambridge and current Chairman of the Cambridge University Technology and Enterprise Club (CUTEC) also attended Enterprisers in 2008, said: “The Enterprisers mission struck me as an invitation to enrich my PhD experience with real world skill-building activities that are so important inside the lab and beyond if you want to become a leader with impact. The main benefit of participating for me was realising emotional intelligence is more important than IQ in effective teamwork and decision making. It also encouraged our creativity to solve problems with the least amount of time, money and effort. Enterprisers served as a confirmation of my entrepreneurial goals in life, boosted my self-motivation, and brought to my attention personal strengths and weaknesses.”

The programme in June 2010 takes place at the Waterfront Conference Centre, Wyboston Lakes, Bedfordshire. Accommodation is included but students may need to cover travel expenses to and from the venue. Potential delegates should apply online via the CfEL web site at http://www.cfel.jbs.cam.ac.uk (please see the Enterprisers programme pages) by the deadline of April 30. 

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