Enterprise in Life Science

Posted on: 23 January 2023 by Jane Marsh in Employer Connections Blog

Engaging employers in these collaborative and innovative real-world challenges is one of the most exciting ways for us to expose students to our industry contacts.

Following on from the success of last year’s award winning SSIF (Student, Success and Innovation Fund) Enterprise in the Life Sciences Challenge 2021 it was decided in autumn 2022 to run a similar challenge but at a more regional level. 

These events can help students to recognise how the skills they have developed through their course are relevant in the workplace whilst also helping recruiters access a diverse pool of talent.

The challenge was to be something that Life Sciences students from all four Universities in the LCR could work on in cross collaboration. Ideally, we needed to hear from local organisations about real challenges that the region was facing to bring it to life.

The Employer Connections Team reached out to local contacts including LYVA Labs based in the Spine at the Knowledge Quarter, The LYVA Labs team brings a wealth of experience from some of the North West’s most well-respected names, across both public and private sectors.

Through their network we were so lucky to be able to secure and then work in collaboration with the Civic Data Co-operative and Alder Hey Innovation who provided Life Sciences students from the University of Liverpool, Liverpool Hope University, Edge Hill University and Liverpool John Moores with an opportunity to generate ideas for a product, service or initiative to reduce childhood asthma rates across the Liverpool City Region.

Once the challenge was set the students were tasked with working in cross-university teams. To inform their ideas Civic Data Co-operative and Alder Hey were able to provide access to relevant data sets and research surrounding the issue.

  • Week one was their introduction to the challenge. A representative from the host organisations gave some more context around the real-world challenge they were facing via Zoom and answered any initial questions the students had.
  • Week two was a mid-challenge review providing another opportunity for students to meet with their contact from the host organisations to ask questions they had at that stage.
  • The final week students pitched their proposed solutions to a panel made up of representatives from the CDC, Alder Hey Innovation, Lyva Labs and the School of Life Sciences at a celebration event.

Finalists' proposals included “Asthma and Ladders”, an education board game and “Green Lungs” a school-based programme supporting students to have autonomy over managing their asthma symptoms and an air-purifying plant.

The winning team was “Mould Mist” a soluble solution used to make a spray to treat mould within the home.

All finalists have been invited to an immersive experience day at the Alder Hey Innovation Hub where they will meet the wider team.

From the perspective of an employer, being involved in a challenge like this has so many benefits, amongst those being that you get to meet and collaborate on a challenge that you are facing with our most engaged students who could become your future interns, placement students and/or graduates. Also, with it being a real-challenge, an employer also gets to hear from students about alternative solutions that may not have been considered before.

To work with us in this way, contact Jane Marsh to find out more.