Supervisors
Share your expertise as a Royce Catalyst supervisor

Royce Catalyst expands the UK’s capacity for advanced materials entrepreneurship by connecting early-stage technologies from inventors with researcher teams who assess their commercial potential.

Supervisors are central to this process. You guide teams as they apply entrepreneurial frameworks, helping them evaluate markets, customers, risks, and business models. Your input ensures teams deliver valuable insights for inventors while developing the mindset and skills to become future entrepreneurs.

By joining as a supervisor, you’ll help build an entrepreneurial culture across the UK materials research community — while expanding your own professional networks and sharpening your mentoring expertise.

• Application deadline: 17 November 2025.
• Launch Night:27 January (Manchester).
• Student research spell: 1 Feb – 21 April (hybrid).
• Pitch Night 21 April 2026 (Manchester).

As a supervisor, you’ll work closely with motivated researchers, gain fresh perspectives, and play a pivotal role in shaping their entrepreneurial journey. You’ll provide structure, perspective, and critical feedback, helping teams bridge what they learn with the practical challenges of taking research to market.

Your role is to mentor the student teams: encouraging entrepreneurial mindsets, enabling rigorous analysis, and supporting them to collaborate effectively under time and resource constraints.

Supervisors are the linchpin of the Royce Catalyst. Without you, student teams could not bridge the gap between theory and practice.

Educational impact

• Shape how the next generation of researchers think about entrepreneurship, innovation, and translation in the materials sector.
• Support student teams to develop mindsets and practical skills they can take back to the lab, multiplying impact beyond the programme.

Professional growth

• Refine your mentoring and coaching skills in a structured, high-impact environment.
• Gain fresh perspectives from motivated PhD and postdoctoral researchers outside your immediate expertise.
• Refresh your own approaches to commercialisation and venture creation by working with diverse teams on novel technologies.

Networks and contribution

• Expand your professional network across the Royce community and the wider UK innovation ecosystem.
• Connect with inventors, students, and fellow supervisors from academia, industry, and investment.
• Be acknowledged in programme materials and at  Night and Pitch Night.
• Play a visible role in strengthening the UK pipeline of materials-focused ventures and embedding responsible innovation in research culture.

Supervisors are involved at three key points in the programme:

• Launch Night in Manchester on 27 January 2026: Meet your student team and their inventor(s), frame the project, and set expectations.
• Research phase online, Feb–Apr 2026: Lead a minimum of three 2-hour supervisions, scheduled flexibly to suit your availability, guiding teams as they apply frameworks to their project.
• Pitch Night in Manchester on 21 April 2026: Join the programme finale to see teams present their findings and celebrate their progress.

Total commitment: around 15–20 hours over 12 weeks.

We welcome supervisors with expertise in areas such as:

• Entrepreneurship, commercialisation, or innovation management.
• Founding or leading start-ups in science, engineering, or advanced materials.
• Corporate innovation, R&D translation, or investment.
• Teaching, mentoring, or coaching in entrepreneurial or business contexts.

Supervisors should be comfortable working with PhD students and early-career researchers. The role is about mentoring teams to apply entrepreneurial thinking and explore commercial pathways, not providing technical or scientific solutions.

Application process

• Stage 1: Submit your application
  Applications are open from 1 October to 17 November 2025 and will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
• Stage 2: Online interview
  Shortlisted applicants will be invited to a brief online interview between 19-21 November.
• Stage 3: Supervisor pool and matching
  Successful applicants will join the Royce Catalyst supervisor pool. You’ll be able to indicate project preferences, and the Royce team will match you to a project based on your background, expertise, and availability.