PERIscope fast tracks research translation
Second cohort of PERIscope Commercialisation Award winners announced for scheme to put research on the express route to translation.
Thirteen projects at the University of Sydney have been selected for the second annual PERIscope Commercialisation Award scheme, a pathway for researchers to validate the market potential of their inventions, amplify industry connections and deliver solutions for the world's big challenges.
“The PERIscope Commercialisation Award is a funding scheme that aims to help researchers determine the market opportunity for their inventions,” says Rupal Ismin, Sydney Knowledge Hub Director. “The brilliance of the award is that it enables more junior researchers to take an entrepreneurial pathway, supported by their supervisor. The cohort reside full time at the Sydney Knowledge Hub startup incubator and learn from each other and the 31 other companies that work out of the space.
“The pilot cohort, which finished earlier this year, saw a major impact in the direction of the projects – five new ventures emerged, and one license was secured from the program. It was exciting to see the transformation that occurred in the researchers over the course of around 100 conversations with industry.”
The 2024 PERIscope cohort. Credit: Melody Hart, University of Sydney
Read more about the 2024 PERIscope winners' highlights here (pdf, 6.8mb).
The program offers up to $61,500 per team to buy out researchers’ time to reduce conflicting research and teaching commitments often experienced by research entrepreneurs.
Projects are run by teams consisting of a Project Principal, or senior researcher and their nominated Entrepreneur Lead, a junior researcher. Selected teams take up residency at the Sydney Knowledge Hub and gain access to industry contacts as part of the program, starting with a four-day bootcamp in February next year.
“What follows is a 13-week immersion at the Sydney Knowledge Hub,” said Jane Cockburn, PERIscope Commercialisation Award Program Manager, “which concludes with recommendations from commercialisation experts on whether the solution should be a new venture, a license with an existing company, or should go back to the lab.”
Three projects this year will be sponsored by the Sydney Biomedical Accelerator, a visionary partnership between the University of Sydney, Sydney Local Health District and the NSW Government bringing together clinicians, researchers, academics and industry to solve some of the world’s most complex health challenges.
Professor Julie Cairney, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research - Enterprise and Engagement), said she was pleased to support the project in its second year.
“After such strong interest in the first round, it’s fantastic to see even more applications for this round. Research commercialisation is an important part of the University’s strategy for ensuring our work at the University has the biggest impact for good.
“I would like to thank everyone who applied for this round and wish the winners success in their commercialisation journey.”
The successful projects and teams for the 2025 PERIscope Commercialisation Award are:
- Professor Marcela Bilek and Dr Clara Tran. Project: Revolutionising Glass Cell Culture Platforms through Bio-instructive Surface Functionality
- Professor Kay Double and Dr Tom Hawtrey. Project: CopperQuant: a tool for in vivo monitoring of copper in disease and disease treatment
- Professor Marcel Dinger and Dr Mahdi Zeraati. Project: From Discovery to Therapy: i-Motif Specific Antibody as a Myc Inhibitor in Cancer
- Professor Alex McBratney and Dr Wartini Ng. Project: Carbonsense
- Professor Elizabeth Hill, Professor Rae Cooper and Dr Suneha Seetahul. Project: The Gender Equality @ Work Index
- Associate Professor Dong Yuan and Charles Z Liu. Project: WirelessDT: A Digital Twin Platform for AI- Enabled Wireless Systems
- Dr Chia Lun (Mike) Wu and Allan Sun. Project: SmartClot
- Professor Peter Tuthill and David Sweeney. Project: Silent but deadly: methane sensing with photonics
- Associate Professor Veysel Kayser and Dr Jing Shan. Project: Innovative ADC therapy for osteoscarcoma.
- Professor Xiaoke Yi and Dr Xiaoyi Tian. Project: Novel on-chip photonic sensors
The Sydney Biomedical Accelerator sponsors the following projects:
- Professor Richard Scolyer and Dr Nigel Maher. Project: MIA-Dx: a novel genomic solution for reliable melanoma pathology diagnosis
- Dr Sina Naficy and Matt Crago. Project: Blood-compatible coatings for cardiovascular devices
- Associate Professor Anna Waterhouse and Deepu Ashok. Project: Organ-on-chip (OOC) devices