#1 - Enterprise Bath to visit Dock3

I am pleased to share that I have recently been awarded the Richard Beresford bursary, a £500 from Enterprise Educators UK, an organisation that supports the personal development of educators and practitioners in the field of enterprise and entrepreneurship by supporting attendance at conferences, visiting other institutions to share models and knowledge of best practise, or contributing towards course fees relevant to entrepreneurship education. This bursary will enable me to make a positive contribution to my practise at Enterprise Bath and share my learning experiences with my colleagues, students and the wider community.

As a member of Enterprise Bath, I am proud to be part of an organisation that supports students and graduates who are interested in starting their own business. We offer students a range of services, including advice, workshops and tips at any stage of their startup journey. Whether they are exploring a business idea, validating a business idea or have already their business up and running, we offer a bootcamp, funding competitions and networking events. Our team of highly qualified and our experienced mentors give students trusted and sincere guidance on their next steps. Recently, the Vice-Chancellor recognised the importance of such a contribution and we now have a dedicated space on campus, the E-Lab in the East Building, to support our efforts. Although, we share similar interests with the School of Management, we hope to attract students from other faculties to our entrepreneurship programme.

For students who do not want to take the risk of running their own business or who are not sure if this career path is right for them, there is IKEEP, the Intrapreneurial Knowledge Exchange Enterprise Pathway, where students can learn online the entrepreneurial mindset so desired by companies, earn a certificate from SETsquared, the UK's leading incubator, and apply for a four week placement in a startup.

After thorough research and consideration, I decided that the best way to improve my practise and benefit Enterprise Bath would be to visit another university to learn from their experience. I approached Roma 3 Universita, a renowned Italian university in Rome established in 1992. I was particularly interested in the Dock3 startup programme, where multidisciplinary teams of 2 to 5 members, consisting of students and researchers, with a maximum of 2 people from the same academic background, are selected to define and perfect their business idea. The programme starts in February and offers participants the opportunity of market validation and presentation of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) with an investor pitch in July.

I look forward to visiting Roma3 and learning more about Dock3’s unique approach to developing and nurturing startup ideas. I am honoured to have received this bursary from Enterprise Educator UK and I am keen to make the most of this opportunity. I am confident that this experience will enrich my own development, which I will be happy to share with my colleagues when I return. Our aim is to create an effective entrepreneurial ecosystem in the student community and beyond.