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The new partnership will further develop SCET’s Global Innovation Collider, an innovation environment that is fostered by facilitating "collisions" of people and groups that can make unique contributions by bringing diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences. 

Exeter forms new partnership with UC Berkeley’s SCET’s Global Innovation Collider programme

The University of Exeter has entered into a pivotal new partnership with the University of California, Berkeley Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology (SCET), to hone and develop the entrepreneurial and innovational talents of students. 

The partnership will see students from Exeter being sent to Berkeley to learn entrepreneurship and innovation skills in Berkeley SCET’s Startup Semester program.  

Students from Exeter’s ​​MSc Entrepreneurship and Technology Innovation program will have the opportunity to work with Berkeley’s prestigious students and faculty in SCET’s Global Innovation Collider, including the possibility of spending one semester in the Bay Area, California, home to San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and the worldwide hub for innovation. 

Professor Krasimira Tsaneva-Atanasova, Associate Dean (Global) for Exeter’s College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences said: “Within our Engineering Management research group the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship team has been growing rapidly and it is great to see this partnership with U.C. Berkeley SCET Global Partnership Program signed.  

“Through this relationship, we will be able to empower our budding entrepreneurs, including students, researchers and academics and foster their ability to innovate."  

The new partnership will further develop SCET’s Global Innovation Collider, an innovation environment that is fostered by facilitating "collisions" of people and groups that can make unique contributions by bringing diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences. 

In addition to bringing students to Berkeley from around the globe, SCET engages alumni, investors, professionals, executives, and firms as students, educators, sponsors, and collaborators to not only bring fresh, relevant ideas to the learning environment, but also give aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators the chance to innovate in an environment that more closely matches the real world. 

“We are truly excited to welcome students and representatives from University of Exeter to participate in Startup Semester,” said Susan Giesecke, Berkeley SCET director of global engagement. “It is amazing to see the progress that students make in one semester, and how they can learn from interacting with the amazing minds at Berkeley and with other exchange students in the program who come to Berkeley from all over the world.” 

Professor Ion Sucala, Deputy Head of Engineering at the University of Exeter said: “The partnership with the UC Berkeley Engineering's Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology comes after few years of consistent efforts to developing Exeter's entrepreneurial ecosystem.  

“The partnership puts Exeter Engineering on the global map of technology innovation and entrepreneurship, and will help us bring our significant research outputs to the market more quickly. 

“Our education capabilities in terms of content, teaching methods, student and staff exchange will also benefit significantly from the closer relation with UC Berkeley.” 

Date: 17 September 2021