Goal 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Our research

Technological infrastructure is vital to modern life and modern businesses. The University’s Smart Internet Lab is leading the way in cutting edge work on communications networks, securing funding in 2022/23 for research into areas including the telecoms supply chain, future 6G mobile networks, and cloud computing. In 2022, the Lab also completed the first prototype of their Nomadic Node, a portable “network in a box” that creates connectivity between devices. With applications wherever electronic devices need to be networked together, the Node has potential to benefit businesses across a range of sectors.

Researchers at Bristol Robotics Laboratory have brought robotics together with artificial intelligence (AI) to develop an innovative new bimanual robot which can “feel” what it is touching. The new Bi-Touch system developed by the researchers allows the robot to carry out manual tasks using AI to interpret the environment and guide the robot’s actions. The robots could potentially be taught to do tasks that require dexterity and involve a touch element, such as fruit picking or providing physical care.

Our students

Bristol students can choose from a number of courses focused on innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainable business, including specialist courses run by the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Our MSc Innovation and Entrepreneurship has been running since 2017/18 and explores the theory and the practice of running a creative, modern business. In 2022, we added to this by launching a new LLM in Law, Innovation and Technology. Running for the first time in 2023/24, this new course will bring together legal knowledge with an understanding of the latest technological and business developments.

Support for enterprise and entrepreneurship also goes beyond the classroom, with dedicated support from the start-up specialists in the Basecamp team, based within the University’s Careers Service. Basecamp offer mentoring, resources, and a range of support, including the annual New Enterprise Competition, which awards £50,000 each year to the best new and growing businesses from students, alumni and staff. Winners in 2022/23 included a company using soundwave technology to grow cells in labs, a computer game company that combines board games with digital tech to help children with reading, and a mentoring support app company.

Our communities

A new cohort of 12 companies joined the University’s tech incubator SETsquared Bristol in February 2023. Through SETsquared, the University provides more than 80 companies in the city with bespoke business support, skills and training, an expert network, and a supportive community of start-up and scale-up businesses in the tech sector. The 12 new companies joining the programme range from green tech to healthcare innovation.

Leading voices in industry and academia joined over 300 guests representing over 95 companies and organisations at the University’s Festival of Enterprise in 2023, a stimulating day of discussion and debate on the opportunities and challenges at the interface between research and the commercial world. As well as keynote speakers and expert panel discussions on the benefits and challenges of industry-academic collaboration, participants were able to meet our Enterprise Fellows and many of our teams who support enterprise and innovation.

Ourselves

The University has been chosen as the host for a new national supercomputer research facility focused on artificial intelligence (AI). This vital piece of research infrastructure will enable researchers and industry experts to drive new innovations in AI in areas from health to robotics to climate change. Drawing on Bristol’s existing strength in AI and computing research, the new supercomputer, known as Isambard-AI, is expected to be the most powerful supercomputer in the UK when it opens in 2024.

In July 2023, the University signed a formal partnership agreement with Science Creates, a Bristol-based deep tech ecosystem that helps scientists and engineers accelerate their ideas and build businesses from scientific discoveries. This agreement aims to establish the city as a global centre for deep tech by combining the University’s world-leading research with specialist incubator facilities, a network of strategic partners, and a dedicated venture capital fund.