An update on the Aspect Ecosystem Mapping Project from Project Manager Emma Mirams
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LSE20th October 2020
An update on the Aspect Ecosystem Mapping Project from Project Manager Emma Mirams
A social sciences entrepreneurial support mapping project
Drawing on the wealth of entrepreneurial activities and opportunities that exist across the Aspect network, this project aimed to identify social science entrepreneurship offerings with a view to mapping relevant resources for entrepreneurs and alumni.
The Project Manager worked with the Entrepreneurship Community of Practice members to identify the range of offerings available at each university. Each university’s offering was mapped, providing a gap analysis, allowing members to look across all of the Aspect universities to consider what could be shared potentially in terms of best practice and ideas.
There are four key elements to this mapping project:
· People – entrepreneurs & start-ups, supporters, entrepreneurial academics, industry partners, networks
· Places – co-working spaces, offices and parks, hubs, accelerators/incubators
· Programmes – events, workshops, networking
· Pounds – competitions, investors, awards and grants
Looking at these areas across 11 Aspect institutions, a comparison matrix is being created to identify gaps and enable universities to see how they may supplement their offerings learning from the activities collated from elsewhere.
Each institution was then asked to put forward two case studies, identified based on their impact or role in the ecosystem, of entrepreneurs with a social science background developing a multitude of different entrepreneurial ventures.
The intention of these in combination is to enable universities to be able to better inform their entrepreneurial networks, whether in existence or being established, of the opportunities to get involved in the social sciences entrepreneurship ecosystem, with reference to a tangible record of current activities, and an understanding of where they can add more value.
From these learnings, the project will create a guide to inform universities how to implement their own ecosystem map should they want to direct student entrepreneurs (and others) to relevant information sources.
As a further resource, the project looked at the University of Oxford’s Entrepreneurs Uncovered Series and to created a guide on how universities could create their own.
These resources are in the process of being completed and will appear on this page soon!
Aspect’s accelerator programme for social science academics and researchers.
Find out moreAspect’s social sciences student and alumni accelerator programme.
FIND OUT MOREIdentifying and mapping relevant resources for entrepreneurs and alumni.
FIND OUT MOREShowcasing the value of social science methodologies to non-academic sectors.
FIND OUT MOREDeveloping a series of guidance and good practice cases for the communication needs associated with social science commercialisation.
FIND OUT MOREDeveloping good practice for social sciences commercialisation.
FIND OUT MOREA series of six workshops aimed at developing social innovation-based entrepreneurial activities.
FIND OUT MORESupporting social scientist entrepreneurs.
FIND OUT MORESupporting family and other informal carers as they adapt to caring under COVID-19 related restrictions.
FIND OUT MORECreating a pilot teacher training resource to combat online misinformation.
FIND OUT MOREExploring good practice cases in social sciences business engagement.
FIND OUT MORECreating an Ed Tech Games Hub for the Aspect consortium.
FIND OUT MOREBuilding relationships with HEIs in middle income countries.
FIND OUT MORE