On the eve of the Faculty of Science Molecules to Market Bazaar!

Tomorrow will be the second year of the Faculty of Science Molecules to Market course, where students present their business ideas. Once again, Liz has managed to secure the Council Room for the event, and if it is anything like last year it should be a lively affair. This is one of several examples of assessment of this course: sometimes business pitches and a Q & A is used, sometimes we assess the quality of a Business Plan: on this occasion, "companies" are asked to produce a poster which is used as a vehicle for "pitching" their ideas in more of a "bazaar" setting, rather than a Dragon's Den. I think we might try some form of "speed dating" next! The poster session follows on from the short business pitch in which staff and the students challenged the companies over their ideas and overall business models. Here, we are looking to take away the "performance" element and we will concentrate on a more detailed Q & A with students being invited to summarise their ideas, followed by a step by step interrogation of the Science and the viability of the Business Plan.

There will be a winner announced on the day, and the winner will receive a prize! In fact we are proposing two winners, one selected by the staff panel and the second winner will be the Business receiving the most votes in a poll by all of the module students. Unlike the General Election, we anticipate that there will be a clear outcome! However, in the event of a tie, we shall toss a coin to avoid the need for a business merger: since we all know what happens with coalitions! Which has made me think, that we could extend the assessment with a forced merger scenario, in order to see which pair of companies manages to produce a Business Plan that is greater than the sum of its parts. Next year maybe?

My advice for tomorrow is simple:

• Know your Science
• Know your Business Plan
• Know your competitors 

 

and most of all:

• Be passionate!

See you all at 2pm tomorrow in the Council Room, just along from Firth Hall.