Teacher Feature - Professor Jeremy Pritchard sheds light on enterprise in the currriculum

The PR team interviews Prof. Jeremy Pritchard

The University of Birmingham is embedding
enterprise within the curriculum in various
disciplines.

One such enterprising individual driving this, is Professor Jeremy Pritchard. He is the Professor  of Life Sciences Education and the Director of Education, for The College of Life and Environmental Sciences.

What University life taught me about myself...

I've just finished my 3rd year in Biological Sciences. I remember my first day. As an international student, it was very overwhelming in the beginning. Everything was new and very different. All I wanted was to try lots of new and exciting things. Now, as a 3rd Year on the brink of graduation, I've realised that everything I've done has been a
learning opportunity and I gained
something from every experience.

Launch Pad: Helping UoB students to start a business

The Launch Pad took place over two days on 8th and 9th June and gave 33 University of Birmingham students the chance to take an enterprising idea forward and turn it into a business.

All five colleges were represented with business ideas including: mobile apps, a vegetable cutter design, city parking solutions, dental products, strength conditioning company and a tuition service.

From China to Birmingham: Reflecting on my enterprising journey

Hi, my name is Man Wang, a third year student from school of Mathematics, studying Mathematics with Business Management in the University of Birmingham.

I started my business plan journey when first enrolled in university. At Jinan University in China, I joined a Business Elite Challenge to figure out a business model and design a mobile app for a mobile health company.I contributed ideas for functions of the app and the cash flow for the business model.

When I came to the University of Birmingham, I also actively participated many enterprising events, including speaking of many famous entrepreneurs and senior managers, workshops, coffee talks, etc. The most fantastic experience in my opinion was the B Start-Up Boot Camp with Virgin in my second year. It was about helping solve loneliness and increasing social interactions among students with different backgrounds.

Last summer, I also attended a three–week programme called Launch Pad last summer held by B-Enterprising team of Careers Network.This event inspired me to think and I suddenly came up with many ideas.

I also attended another three-day B-startup event in the Innovation campus in Birmingham city centre. I met a great deal of professional people and discussed solutions about health industry with another four members. I provided many ideas based on the Chinese health industry knowledge and pointed out some aspects they missed.

Then in my third year, I joined Bank of England’s technology competition about using big data and machine learning in 2016.Later I joined the student mobile app competition held by Innovation center at University of Birmingham and I was proceeded to the final stage to deliver a presentation.It was a very unforgettable competition and I learned many new things: using proto.io to design app, my potential to deliver enjoyable presentations, doing well under pressure, different ways to present ideas…

There are lots of ways to be enterprising whilst studying at University.  Find out more on our B-Enterprising homepage and help your future career by making things happen

Be enterprising this exam season!

Exam season is a challenging time of year. With last minute revision and exam preparations, there's not much time to think of anything else. But there's still a lot of enterprising things to be done!

Here are five ways to be enterprising this exam season...

‘Character Matters’: Director of Culture Syndicates, Charlotte Pratley, gives advice on careers in the arts

Charlotte Pratley

After graduating from a degree in Fine Art, Charlotte found herself drawn to organising cultural events. She began to curate her own exhibitions, run artists’ studios and managed an arts festival with fellow graduates. It is this entrepreneurial spirit which made Charlotte create her own opportunities within the art world, and she suggests that all graduates should be doing the same, especially given the current cuts across the arts.

But I'm not enterprising! Am I??

Hi, my name is Wei Li Tung and I am a second year Psychology undergraduate.

This is for the novice and the curious wanting to gain exposure in business. Throughout my education years, I have never acquired enterprising knowledge.  I grew up in an environment where ‘Doctor, Lawyer, or Engineer’ was the career path to take. 

My transition from High School to University has been tailored to the science stream. I was clear of my direction. It never occurred to me to think about business. This wasn't me and I thought had nothing to do with my career.