Partners
Partners offering fellowships
The organisations listed below generously support Impulse by funding places on the programme for participants working on projects related to their mission or goals. Impulse also offers a number of partial fellowships for promising applicants who are working outside our partners' scope.
The list below is provisional and subject to change.
Interested in supporting early-stage innovation in your space as an Impulse partner? Please email us via impulse@maxwell.cam.ac.uk.
BBSRC Impact Acceleration Account (BBSRC IAA) has awarded the University an Impact Acceleration Account (IAA), to promote wider and more effective engagement with the impact agenda. The Account provides the University with resources to deliver impact and work on the exploitation of outcomes from its EPSRC research portfolio, with the key objective of shortening the time to impact. The IAA brings together a number of previous initiatives to provide more flexibility, including early stage commercialisation, developing new partnerships and reaching out to researchers who do not normally engage in commercialisation activities.
BBSRC IAA is offering Fellowships to Cambridge University Postdocs in the fields of Biotechnology and Biological Sciences.
BMZis a leading manufacturer of cross-industry lithium-ion battery systems in Europe. BMZ Innovation Group Ltd, located in Cambridge, represents all BMZ factories, which directly supply state-of-the-art batteries mainly to e-mobility and energy storage customers in the UK.
BMZ started in 1994. More than 2,500 employees work at BMZ. For many years, EV large fleet customers (especially in the e-bus, delivery & logistics sectors), energy storage market leaders, medical, power/garden tool and other industrial customers, take advantage of BMZ innovative battery system solutions in their daily operations.
The headquarters is in Karlstein, Germany. However, BMZ have a global presence with production facilities in Germany, Poland, China, the USA, and North Macedonia, along with engineering/sales hubs in Japan, France, and the UK.
BMZ is committed to being Leaders of Innovation by consistently integrating the latest technologies and production methods to enhance battery performance, establishing itself as a pioneer in innovation.
BMZ is offering Fellowships to researchers or early entrepreneurs in the field of batteries.
Cambridge Academy of Therapeutic Sciences (CATS) is a platform established to facilitate the development of new therapeutics (drug development, biologicals, gene therapy, or medical devices for human patient treatment, management or diagnosis) and support the education and training of the next generation of world-leading researchers.
Cambridge Academy of Therapeutic Sciences is offering Fellowships to Cambridge University researchers, Postdocs and PhD students in the field of projects aiming to research and develop drugs, biologicals, gene therapy, or medical devices for human patient treatment, management or diagnosis.
Cancer Research Horizons is an innovation engine built to complement Cancer Research UK’s network of exceptional researchers. They take cutting-edge innovations from the lab bench to the bedside, translating them into effective treatments and diagnostics for cancer patients.
Cancer Research Horizons is offering Fellowships to UK Researchers or Early Stage Entrepreneurs in the field of ideas/ventures related to cancer/oncology.
EPSRC CDT in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology is a centre for doctoral training at Cambridge University. It aims to produce a new sort of PhD student, trained over 4 years in many advanced Nano techniques, innovation and business practice, as well as novel science. They emphasise cross-disciplinary training in the Physical Sciences, including Chemistry, Physics, Materials and Engineering.
Endomag is a medical technology company based in Cambridge UK devoted to improving the global standard of cancer care. Their products are now routinely used by thousands of the world’s leading physicians and cancer centres in more than 45 countries. Their goal is to help women with breast cancer avoid surgery when it isn’t needed, and experience better outcomes when it is. Over 700,000 women have now accessed more precise and less invasive breast cancer treatment. In 2024, Endomag was acquired by Hologic, a global leader in women's health.
Endomag is offering a Fellowship in the field of FemTech.
EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account (EPSRC IAA) has awarded the University an Impact Acceleration Account (IAA), to promote wider and more effective engagement with the impact agenda. The Account provides the University with resources to deliver impact and work on the exploitation of outcomes from its EPSRC research portfolio, with the key objective of shortening the time to impact. The IAA brings together a number of previous initiatives to provide more flexibility, including early stage commercialisation, developing new partnerships and reaching out to researchers who do not normally engage in commercialisation activities.
EPSRC National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF) has made funds available to the University for innovation placements and entrepreneurial training. The training grant is specifically for current PhD students whose funding is drawn from an existing DTP or CDT, and who are working in areas of relevance to the government's industrial strategy. Thanks to this grant - and its principal aim of supporting and increasing the impact arising from doctoral research which is relevant to the industrial strategy.
EPSRC IAA is offering Fellowships to Cambridge University Postdocs in technologies and products/services in Physical Sciences and Technology.
The Henry Royce Institute is the UK national institute for advanced materials. It operates as a hub and spoke model, with the Hub at The University of Manchester, and spokes at the founding Partners, comprising the universities of Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool, Cambridge, Oxford and Imperial College London, UKAEA and NNL. Cranfield University and the University of Strathclyde are Associate Partners.
Royce at Cambridge leads the Atoms to Devices Research Area.
The vision of Atoms to Devices (A2D) is to provide the underpinning, cross- disciplinary, technology platforms to facilitate and support the accelerated discovery and development of new device materials. Through the deposition of precisely controlled thin films, the engineering of interfaces, and the ability to control doping on the nanoscale, it enables the design of new devices and new technological solutions that underpin a breadth of societal applications.
Henry Royce Institute is offering Fellowships to PhD students or Postdocs registered at a UK Higher Education Institute in the field of Materials Science.
The Maxwell Centre is the centrepiece for industrial engagement with the physical scientists and engineers working on the Cambridge West Innovation District. Two-way flow of ideas and researchers adds value when 'blue-skies' activities meet research objectives relevant to economic opportunities for industry and society at large.
The Maxwell Centre strategy explores the role of science and technology in delivering a robust and healthy society of 2051. The core aims are to carry out world-leading research in the physical sciences and technology, developed from both near-term but also long-term industry objectives, to foster innovation and to enable societal impact at scale. This is achieved through engineered serendipity, including colocation of research scientists from industry, startups and academia, facilitated interactions and strategic partnerships.
Maxwell Centre fellowships are open to University of Cambridge members and recent alumni, whose ideas align with one of more of the core themes of the Maxwell Centre strategy:
• Zero Waste-Maximum Efficiency / green technologies / circular economy
• Health Technologies / including personalised and digital health
• digitally enabled society, underpinned by robust data.
The National Research Foundation's (NRF, South Africa) mandate and priorities are informed by legislation and various policies within the Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) sectors. As a government mandated research and science development agency the NRF funds research, the development of high-end Human Capacity and critical research infrastructure to promote knowledge production across all disciplinary fields. The goal of the NRF is to create innovative funding instruments, advance research career development, increase public science engagement and to establish leading-edge research platforms that will transform the scientific landscape and inspire a representative research community to aspire to global competitiveness. The NRF promotes South African research and innovation interests across the country and internationally, and together with research institutions, business, industry and international partners we build bridges between research communities for mutual benefit that contributes to National Development.
NRF is offering Fellowships to South African scholars via its own network.
Cambridge NeuroWorks is an ARIA-funded initiative designed to accelerate breakthroughs in brain health by identifying and supporting high-potential, interdisciplinary researchers at the earliest stages of translation in the field of neurotechnology. Delivered in partnership with leading institutions including the Milner Therapeutics Institute and Maxwell Centre, the programme provides structured pathways, from ideation through to proof-of-concept and beyond, to help participants develop, test, and progress novel ideas in neurotechnology with real-world impact. Cambridge NeuroWorks brings together expertise across neuroscience, engineering, and data science, alongside access to funding, mentorship, and a growing investor and commercialisation network.
Cambridge Neuroworks is offering Fellowships in the field of NeuroTech.
National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is the UK's National Metrology Institute, developing and maintaining the national primary measurement standards. It is a Public Corporation owned by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). It has a partnering agreement with BEIS and the University of Strathclyde and the University of Surrey. NPL is part of the National Measurement System (NMS) which provides the UK with a national measurement infrastructure and delivers the UK Measurement Strategy on behalf of BEIS.
Postdocs to Innovators (p2i) is a collaboration between eight Higher Education Institutes and global enterprises across Europe to provide entrepreneurial training and experiences to early career researchers. Our ambition is to ensure that those who engage with our programme come away with a clear understanding of the importance of the entrepreneurial mindset and skillset and its impact on a successful future regardless of their career trajectory.
p2i is offering Fellowships to Cambridge University Postdocs in technologies and products/services across different fields of Physical Sciences and Technology, including Life Sciences.
The Henry Royce Institute is the UK's national institute for materials science research and innovation. Royce@Cambridge is one of nine partners focusing on Materials for Energy-Efficient ICT and primarily interested in materials applications.