The West Sussex Health and Life Sciences Cluster July Update
Welcome to the latest news update, keeping you informed about the health and life sciences initiatives we are progressing, highlighting relevant sector events and opportunities, and updating you on the exciting things that are happening in the county.
Funding
Coast to Capital Region Business Growth Grants - Open for Applications from West Sussex Companies
Grants of between £15,000 to £100,000 are available to SME businesses who are located in the Coast to Capital Region and are looking to grow and to create new jobs. The grant can be used for up to 40% of the total project costs and can fund capital items.
For more information please visit or email businessgrants@westsussex.gov.uk if you are interested in the grants programme and would like to learn more about how it could help your business.
Technology and Innovation in the Care Sector – Get involved!
Care homes and providers of domiciliary care are not benefiting from advances in technology and the opportunities to improve both efficiency and quality of care provision. The results of research and the existence of case studies from the sector indicate that this represents a significant opportunity for SMEs to develop and implement innovative technology and practice.
The University of Chichester is currently developing a proposal for funding from Coast to Capital to run a collaborative 3 year project covering the Coast 2 Capital region involving the University of Brighton, the South East HealthCare Technology Alliance (SEHTA), Sussex Community NHS Trust, Local Authorities, care providers and technology companies to build networks of innovation (clusters) to identify and progress research and technological solutions to significant issues across the care sector. The project will establish the networks, develop a care technology roadmap and administer an innovation award scheme to support applications to promote implementation of innovative solutions across the sector. The project will help care providers and recipients, benefit from advances in digital technologies, health and well-being research and preventative interventions to deliver cost effective quality care provision.
Should the proposal be successful, SMEs will be able to bid for grants of between £5,000 and £20,000 to assist with the development and implementation of innovative technologies into the care sector. These will need to be match funded to 50% of the total value of the project.
As part of the proposal, the University is looking to establish if there is demand for the grant funding. If your organisation thinks that it would be interested in applying for a grant and would like to be included on our database for future contact, please e mail:
Andrew Adams, University of Chichester Business School
Tel: 01243 81600 a.adams@chi.ac.uk
STEM
Mid Sussex Science Week
Special mention to all the companies who participated this year's Mid Sussex Science Week: BSE3d; BAM; Thermofisher; Flowserve, Schlumberger; Mitsubishi and special thanks to CSL Behring for their financial support.
Mid Sussex Science Week took place from June 13th- 17th. STEM companies partnered with local primary schools to produce STEM themed projects which were then judged at the Mid Sussex Big Bang Fair. 250 children attended an action packed STEM filled day at Clair Hall on the 17th, during which they learnt that science, technology, engineering and mathematics are interesting and fun!
Philip Todd, Director at BSE3d Limited said:
"knowing that the children have been inspired and enthused leaves me feeling a great sense of achievement. I know they have learnt new and very different things and I hope this will help encourage them into the field of science and engineering in the future.”
The Big Bang Fair South East
It was great to see local cluster members participating in the fifth annual Big Bang Fair South East. The event took place on June 29th and was attended by 8,500 students and their teachers from almost 200 schools across the region. Over 160 companies, professional bodies and educational institutions will provide more than 200 STEM-related interactive workshops, shows and demonstrations aimed at giving young people a fun and exciting insight into future courses of study and careers.
Cluster members including Elekta, GSK, Tesla Engineering, Edwards Vacuum and Blond McIndoe took park in the event providing activities that demonstrated the STEM-related aspects of their industry showcasing the potential career paths open to young people.
The Blond McIndoe Team at the Big Bang Fair South East