Young business brains vie to become 2014’s Science Entrepreneurs.

On December 17th, students from local sixth form colleges will compete before a Dragon’s den-style panel of judges, presenting their business concepts in the hope of being crowned 2014 Science Entrepreneurs and securing investment for their colleges’ science department.

Organised at the University of Warwick’s School of Life Sciences, the event aims to cultivate the next generation of scientific entrepreneurs.

Prior to this event, Warwick academics visited several sixth form colleges over six months where students were asked to think of a problem, or business niche, and then hypothetically design a solution.

Groups were judged on their business acumen, the application of their scientific knowledge and ability to work as a team. Some of the winning entry ideas included magnetic bricks, biofilms, alternative arm casts and novel sun creams.

After over three months of competition the eight best concepts were selected and the final colleges chosen to compete were Alyselford College in Warwick, Campion College in Royal Leamington Spa, Kenilworth College and Etone College in Nuneaton.

Organiser of the project Dr Phil Gould, from the School of Life Sciences and Warwick Ventures, said; “This competition has conclusively shown that the breadth and quality of entrepreneurial and scientific skills across the region is second to none.

Tasked with working in teams to devise scientific solutions to complex business problems, the students have shown real innovative flair and have come up with a range of ideas that address a diverse range of needs. The panel of judges now face the incredibly difficult task of picking just one winner”.

The winning team will receive £300 for their science department, a donation by School of Life Sciences at Warwick and £50 of Amazon vouchers, donated by Promega.