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Brunel nominated for THE 'Entrepreneurial University of the Year' award

Events

Brunel has been shortlisted for the prestigious Times Higher Education (THE) 'Entrepreneurial University of the Year' Award 2010.

The nomination is a testament to how successfully the University has integrated enterprise and entrepreneurship into its teaching, research and business activities over the last few years.

Brunel has had major success with its in-house companies, such as RCCS (Residential, Catering and Conference Services), which now has an annual turnover of £20M, and its strategic business partnerships, including deals with Jaguar-Land-Rover (£9M) and TWI (£2M). Staff can also take advantage of generous cash awards for staff enterprise.

However, student development is at the heart of Brunel’s entrepreneurial culture. This year an entrepreneur-in-residence and a network of graduate entrepreneurs were appointed to mentor our students.

Students can also take advantage of the annual Brunel ‘Dragon’s Den’ competition, the regular, high-profile networking events, or the expertise of the University’s commercialisation experts to help develop their ideas. They can even join the Brunel Entrepreneurs student society, the largest and one of the most dynamic societies on campus.

In particular, the student design exhibition Made in Brunel epitomises the ambition and effectiveness of the University’s enterprise promotion. Many of the 250 projects on display were commissioned directly by businesses and some will even go on to receive commercial backing for further development.

The Times Higher Education Awards, now in their sixth year, aim to recognise the groundbreaking work undertaken by UK higher education institutions. Brunel has received several THE nominations and awards in the past, including:

  • Award for ‘Outstanding Support for Disabled Students’ for the Disability and Dyslexia Service
  • Nomination for the THE ‘Excellence and Innovation in the Arts’ award for the highly original methods used to teach the MA in Digital Games Theory and Design
  • Two nominations for the Brunel Estates team – ‘Outstanding Estates Initiative’ and ‘Outstanding Estates Team’ awards
  • Two THE Leadership and Management Awards nominations for ‘Outstanding Research Management Team’ and ‘Outstanding ICT Team’
The THE awards ceremony will take place in London on 25 November.