Royce Catalyst

An entrepreneurial education programme, connecting researchers, technologies, and experts to drive advanced materials commercialisation

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From lab to market: your launchpad for advanced materials entrepreneurship

Royce Catalyst is an applied entrepreneurial learning programme for PhD, postdoctoral & early career researchers. Working in teams on live projects from inventors, participants explore the commercial potential of advanced materials technologies while developing entrepreneurial mindsets and skills.

Our mission is clear: to accelerate the translation of advanced materials research into real-world impact, while equipping the next generation of researchers, innovators, and future founders with entrepreneurial skills relevant to advanced materials.

At its core, Royce Catalyst brings together three groups to strengthen the innovation ecosystem:

Students: researchers who want to learn how to test ideas and build entrepreneurial know-how.
Inventors: with materials technologies in the early stages of commercial exploration.
Supervisors: guiding student teams as they apply their training and entrepreneurial tools.

Together, we are building a powerful ecosystem: real projects, independent insights, and a new wave of entrepreneurial talent for the UK’s materials innovation pipeline.

Why Royce Catalyst?

Advanced materials underpin the industries of the future — from energy storage and critical minerals to biomaterials, photonics, and sustainable manufacturing. Yet moving research from the lab into markets is complex.

Royce Catalyst provides a national platform to explore commercial feasibility, routes to market, and potential impact — delivered in a structured and supported way.

Through an intensive taught programme, real-world projects, and expert supervision, students gain the mindset to apply their training and entrepreneurial tools to bridge the gap between research and real-world impact. Inventors benefit from fresh perspectives on their technologies, and supervisors play a direct role in shaping the UK’s innovation culture.

How you can get involved

Researchers: Apply now as a student

Build entrepreneurial skills, work in a diverse team, and apply what you learn directly to a live materials innovation project. Around 40 scholarships are available for UK university researchers specialising in materials science.

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Supervisors: Guide a team of students

Guide and support Catalyst student teams as they apply their training and entrepreneurial tools. Help shape the next generation of materials entrepreneurs while broadening your own networks. A modest stipend is anticipated to offset time/travel (UK right to work required).

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Inventors: Submit a commercialisation project proposal

Submit an early-stage advanced materials technology for independent commercial feasibility assessment by student teams. There is no cost to inventors, only your time and non-confidential input.

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Be part of the bigger picture

Royce Catalyst is more than a programme. It marks the start of a national effort to embed materials-centred entrepreneurship education, put technology translation into action, and ultimately support the UK’s advanced materials research base.

Whether you join as a student participant, inventor, or supervisor, your involvement will help shape the culture, capacity, and community that drives material discoveries into real-world impact.

Questions? Contact us at catalyst@royce.ac.uk