FAQs at the start

A number of questions cropped up at the end of the first session, most of which I have come across before, some thoughts to help you are given below. Please use the comments box or email to ask anything! The advantage of the Blog is that everyone can see the question and the answer.

My background isn't in Biology, will I be disadvantaged?

The majority of students are either studying a Biology or Chemistry based degree courses, and so even though there are students from other Faculty Departments in the class, it is highly unlikely that this will be a problem. On an individual basis, whilst some of the questions on the assessed "quiz" will be more familiar to Biology undergraduates, overall, the information required to pass the course well, will rely on your knowledge of the material provided on MOLE. The advantage of being part of a mixed group is the increased diversity in thinking: I imagine there will be a tendency to gravitate towards your interests, but try to stretch yourselves where possible.


I have an idea, but it is rather ambitious and would need a large investment, is this "allowed"? 

Your business proposal must be based on a piece of innovative Science. We recognise that do not expect you to  If you are thinking of developiyou are only half way through your degree, but we do want to encourage you to look further afield and to draw on your existing knowledge base to come up with ideas. If you decide you want to start a company for the development of a drug, for example a new class of antibiotics, you will need to consider the research and development lead time before a product emerges: in other words you will need to pay salaries and fund lab costs, for a few years, without any income. Such companies need substantial up-front investment: you therefore need not only to persuade your investor how promising your idea is, but also how you are going to protect their investment. You may think it preferable for an "organic" growth model: start small, build knowledge and then seek investment. Some students have thought of hybrid models: generate income via a related business to fund the more speculative ideas. Whatever your preferred model, try thinking through the number of staff you might need, the level of qualification  and experience (which will determine salaries). You might like to offer some employees stock options in return for reduced salaries. Think of the ideal location for material resources, human resources, distribution and labour costs etc.

If the business is "not for profit", more of a Social Enterprise, you may need to think about a low salary early phase, with recruitment of volunteers and a fund raising model that is more charity-like, or for grant support, or maybe crowd-funding? You can read about the top 10 crowd-funding resources here.

How "robust" should the Science be?

Finally, we come to robustness, and this is what we are looking for. We do not expect you to produce a fully fledged business plan, but the best ideas will be robust. This means that the financial model is appropriate, your infrastructure plans and recruitment strategy is evidence-based and that you have addressed and risk-assessed as much of your idea as possible.

Please keep the questions and comments coming!