{"id":179434,"date":"2025-12-02T13:21:25","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T13:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta-ukri.msappproxy.net\/?post_type=event&#038;p=179434"},"modified":"2026-01-23T11:48:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T11:48:32","slug":"bbsrc-sparking-innovation-conference-2026-pre-announcement","status":"publish","type":"event","link":"https:\/\/www.ukri.org\/events\/bbsrc-sparking-innovation-conference-2026-pre-announcement\/","title":{"rendered":"BBSRC Sparking Innovation Conference 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>BBSRC&#8217;s Sparking Innovation conference brings together the UK bioscience innovation community and facilitates knowledge exchange and collaboration to turn research into real-world impact.<\/p>\n<p>It aims to support:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>collaboration: connecting academia, industry and investors to accelerate routes to impact<\/li>\n<li>skills development: supporting entrepreneurial and commercialisation capabilities<\/li>\n<li>career opportunities: showcasing diverse roles across the bioscience innovation landscape<\/li>\n<li>knowledge exchange: <a href=\"\/councils\/bbsrc\/blog\/\">sharing insights<\/a>, <a href=\"\/who-we-are\/how-we-are-doing\/research-outcomes-and-impact\/bbsrc\/\">case studies<\/a> and success stories<\/li>\n<li>commercialisation connections: as part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), we can help connect you with a host of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discover.ukri.org\/commercialising-your-research-with-ukri\/\">live commercialisation opportunities<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Sparking Innovation 2026<\/h2>\n<p>In April 2026, Sparking Innovation will return for the fourth year in a row. The event will be held in Leicester, with registration now open.<\/p>\n<p>The conference will include dedicated panel sessions discussing a range of topics:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>commercialisation: from lab to the market<\/li>\n<li>building sustainable models for translation<\/li>\n<li>What is needed to build an innovation ecosystem?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Alongside this you will:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>hear from a keynote speaker discussing the importance of bioscience innovation<\/li>\n<li>see the bio-innovation showcase and poster session (featuring innovation projects from our community)<\/li>\n<li>watch the famous &#8216;Demo Day&#8217; where companies can pitch to a panel of investors<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What to expect<\/h2>\n<p>You can expect:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>inspiring talks and innovation success stories<\/li>\n<li>opportunities to learn more about bioscience innovation, why it\u2019s important, and how to get involved<\/li>\n<li>networking with researchers, industry professionals, and investors in a relaxed and informal environment<\/li>\n<li>to hear more about bioscience innovation opportunities within BBSRC and UKRI<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Contact us at: <a href=\"mailto:sparkinginnovation@bbsrc.ukri.org\">sparkinginnovation@bbsrc.ukri.org<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Who we are<\/h2>\n<p>We are BBSRC\u2019s Knowledge Exchange and Commercialisation Unit and our job is to help unlock bioscience breakthroughs that deliver economic and societal benefit by driving translation, commercialisation and innovation.<\/p>\n<p>Our focus areas are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>knowledge exchange: realising research impact through strategic partnerships<\/li>\n<li>innovation capability: supporting and growing regional bioscience clusters<\/li>\n<li>strategy and policy: creating the right environment for commercialisation success.<\/li>\n<li>translation: funding to test and develop technologies for market opportunities<\/li>\n<li>enterprise and venture: entrepreneurial development programmes and support for high-potential early-stage companies to de-risk their business and attract further investment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We achieve this through programmes and partnerships such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"\/who-we-are\/bbsrc\/who-we-are\/strategically-supported-institutes\/\">BBSRC strategically supported research institutes<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/who-we-are\/bbsrc\/who-we-are\/strategically-supported-institutes\/uk-research-and-innovation-campuses\/\">BBSRC research and innovation Campuses and Campus Innovation Awards<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/what-we-do\/browse-our-areas-of-investment-and-support\/biotechnology-and-biological-sciences-research-council-follow-on-fund\/\">BioFutures<\/a><\/li>\n<li>BBSRC and Science and Technology Facilities Council <a href=\"https:\/\/new.express.adobe.com\/webpage\/dXDoB312tmfUE?\">Biotechnology Business Incubation Centre<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/iuk-business-connect.org.uk\/programme\/icure\/\">BBSRC ICURe<\/a><\/li>\n<li>UKRI <a href=\"\/what-we-do\/browse-our-areas-of-investment-and-support\/ukri-impact-acceleration-accounts\/\">Impact Accelerator Accounts<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ukinnovationscienceseedfund.co.uk\/\">UKI2S<\/a><\/li>\n<li>BBSRC and Economic and Social Research Council <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zinc.vc\/programmes\/food-systems-catalyst\/\">Multidisciplinary Food Systems Commercialisation Catalyst in partnership with Zinc<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[49],"wf_event_folders":[],"class_list":["post-179434","event","type-event","status-publish","hentry","category-bbsrc"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ukri.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event\/179434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ukri.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ukri.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/event"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.ukri.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event\/179434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":182705,"href":"https:\/\/www.ukri.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event\/179434\/revisions\/182705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ukri.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ukri.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179434"},{"taxonomy":"wf_event_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ukri.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_event_folders?post=179434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}