SETsquared, a partnership between universities of Southampton, Bath, Bristol, Exeter, and Surrey, is up for a THELMA (Times Higher Education Leadership & Management Awards).

It has been shortlisted in the Knowledge Exchange/Transfer Initiative of the Year category, for its innovation and commercialisation of university research (ICURe) programme.

Funded by Higher Education Funding Council for England and Innovate UK, the £3.2 million programme provides university researchers with training, mentoring and funds, as well as important business contacts, to get their ideas, technologies and products off the ground.

More than 232 participants have benefitted from the programme, including 14 teams from the University of Southampton and 21 new companies have been created.

One company from Southampton to find success through the ICURe programme is BluPoint Limited, whose cloud-based authoring system works in concert with a solar-powered network to provide digital speeds faster than 4G to remote locations.

The company is led by Dr Mike Santar, who said: “We believe that without the support of the ICURe team and the affordances of the programme we would not be as far as we are now.”

Don Spalinger, SETsquared board member and director of research and innovation services at the University of Southampton, said: “With such fantastic results coming from the ICURe programme, this shortlisting is a testament to the hard work and enthusiasm of everyone involved.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on June 23.