ARC (Aspect Research Commercialisation) Accelerator

Are you a researcher in social science, humanities or the arts with innovative research ideas that could be developed into a business or social enterprise? Turn your research ideas into a successful venture through our entrepreneurial skills training programme and get the chance to receive up to £75,000 in funding to support your proposed project. The programme is open to all researchers from SHAPE disciplines, whose institutions are also Aspect members.*

Through the ARC Accelerator we aim to showcase how research commercialisation, in particular creating ventures, can provide a bold new path to enable social scientists to translate their research into solving social problems or driving economic growth.

Just as the STEM world is increasingly realising the value of ventures to scale up the impact of research, we believe the ARC Accelerator will catalyse a new era of research-backed ventures from social scientists, driving innovation across social, economic and business problems.

What is ARC?

ARC is a 7-month accelerator programme, funded by ESRC  and Research England, and is designed to help researchers from  SHAPE disciplines (Social science, Humanities and Arts for People and the Economy) develop ideas based on their research into startups or  social enterprises and deliver impact at scale.

Participants will benefit from:

• Entrepreneurial and sector-specific training workshops to help you build out your idea.

• 1:1 pitch practice and coaching.

• A dedicated mentor to guide you through market validation and business development stages and      to support your pitch for funding or investment.

• Access to a network of investors, industry experts and technology transfer managers to help you        with specific problems, such as setting up consultancies, working with banks or building software.

• Lifelong alumni support and events to network and support the growth of your venture.

• An opportunity to bid for funding from a £75k funding pot.

• The chance to do all of this in a peer group of like-minded researchers.

How to apply:

Applications are open from September until 28th November 2022. To apply, please contact jessica.lewis-tatton@manchester.ac.uk and tony.walker@manchester.ac.uk about being put forward.

• ARC Accelerator Information Session - Thursday 10th November - 12:30-13:15 - Sign Up Here
• Application Workshop - Wednesday 23rd November - 12:30-13:30
• Application Deadline - Monday 28th November
• Successful Applications Stage 2 Pitch - Wednesday 30th November 

*Students & Alumni are not eligible

If you have any queries, please email entrepreneurship@manchester.ac.uk with subject: ARC Accelerator.