NR 4ward: achieving a real-world impact through our research and innovation
Over the last six months, the NR 4ward programme has accelerated work to develop a thriving ecosystem on Norwich Research Park.
Funded by Research England, NR 4ward was a pilot to build on UEA and Norwich Research Park’s track record for developing successful spinouts (academic businesses from research). An overview of the NR 4ward programme is available on YouTube – outlining some of the major achievements of the pilot, which ran from 1 November 2024 to 30 April 2025.
Collaboration between UEA and our partners across Norwich Research Park – Earlham Institute, John Innes Centre, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust , Quadram Institute and The Sainsbury Laboratory – has been key to the programme’s success, with spinouts receiving more support and opportunity to grow.
The NR 4ward programme has enhanced the way the partner organisations work together to deliver and support spinout success. Together, the partners have developed new networks and nurtured a pool of potential entrepreneurs to lead future spinouts and help drive economic growth in our region.
As a legacy of the NR 4ward programme, online training materials have been created to help staff and postgraduate researchers to develop successful spinouts in the future.
New training material to support future spinout success
As a legacy of the programme, the new online NR 4ward training repository contains useful resources for staff (including academics, clinicians, technicians and support staff), postgraduate researchers, and those looking to gain entrepreneurial skills.
Visit the training repository to find out about:
- Ongoing support for spinout development – Liliya Serazetdinova is interviewed about the dedicated support that’s available to help you commercialise your research across Norwich Research Park – and you’ll find useful contact details and prompts for discussions.
- Spinout success stories – see interviews with colleagues and peers across Norwich Research Park who have developed successful spinouts – including Richard Harvey, Douglas Yu, Samantha Fox, Richard Stephenson, and Sheng Qi.
- “Spinout Spark” training material – including presentations for budding entrepreneurs from Fiona Nielsen, who co-founded the “spinout spark” sessions with Dr Soraya Jones. We’ve also included Fiona’s spinout case studies, tips from successful entrepreneurs: Mary-Ann Claridge, Zahra Jawad and Andrea Dimitracopoulos
- Special health tech support – with recordings of the webinars delivered by leading experts Health Tech Enterprise as part of the NR 4ward programme.
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Get in touch
If you’re an investor or with an external business, there are many ways of working with us and benefiting from the world-leading expertise and innovation on Norwich Research Park – get in touch via business@uea.ac.uk to find out more. We will direct your query to the right team or individual, including our partner organisations across Norwich Research Park.
This article was written by UEA for Business. For more information please visit: NR 4ward: achieving a real-world impact through our research and innovation | LinkedIn
