David Rodgers, a final year University of Glasgow PhD student and President of the Glasgow chapter of the
Oxbridge Biotech Roundtable (OBR), recently visited Dundee University to present his experience with and the objectives that define OBR to the
College of Lifesciences Postdoctoral Association committee.
OBR is a student-led organisation that creates and fosters a global network of multidisciplinary academic innovators and industry leaders to catalyse efficient innovation in biotechnology, through the cross-pollination of ideas and resources necessary to move ideas forward.
The organisation is an impressive success story. OBR began as a small student-led initiative at Oxford University in October 2011 to improve engagement in biotech innovation, discussion and training on the University campus. In less than two years, it has grown to a 10,000-member organisation with chapters at flagship educational institutions and pivotal biotech hubs including Cambridge, London, Manchester, Glasgow, San Diego, the San Francisco-Bay Area, and Los Angeles.
An evidence of its success is the recent
OneStart competition - the world’s largest biotech idea competition - in which OBR partnered with
SROne (the venture capital arm of GSK) to award the most tenacious and promising of biotech entrepreneurs within its community £100,000; incubation space at Stevenage Biocatalyst; membership to existent life science enterprise networks; and access to business plan development and intellectual property support.
OBR is an avenue for chemists of all ages, but especially younger chemists, to expand their networks of leading entrepreneurs, industrialists and academics from across the life-sciences. It also can provide unique experiences in early-stage entrepreneurship and established industry, and much sought-after educational tools and resources from experts at the forefront of biotech innovation.
Membership of OBR is free-of-charge, and full details of its activities and opportunities are available online at:
http://www.oxbridgebiotech.com.
* Many thanks to OBR’s Editor-in-Chief, Jenny Dworzak, for helping me research this piece.
