Entrepreneurship is part of ARU's institutional identity, not simply an activity delivered through individual projects.
Our mission is to 'transform lives through innovative, inclusive and entrepreneurial education and research', and our new ten-year strategy, Transforming Lives, places innovation, enterprise and partnership at the heart of ARU's ambitions for the next decade.
Through the Strategy's Discovery with Purpose goal, we commit to pioneering solution-focused research and innovation that drives social and economic progress, forging ambitious collaborations with universities and external stakeholders, and developing a dynamic portfolio of knowledge exchange and entrepreneurial ventures that delivers tangible value to partners, clients and funders. This entrepreneurial ambition shapes the way we work with industry, government, public services and communities, turning knowledge into new technologies, businesses, infrastructure and solutions with real-world impact.
Leading a €5 million European innovation partnership
ARU's Global Sustainability Institute leads SHARED GREEN DEAL, a €5 million Horizon 2020 project involving 22 organisations from across Europe. Running from 2022 onwards, the project is testing innovative approaches to sustainability through 24 social experiments across policy areas including clean energy, sustainable mobility, circular economy and biodiversity. The project brings together universities, businesses, civil-society organisations and policymakers in a large-scale innovation partnership designed to accelerate the implementation of the European Green Deal. By testing and scaling innovative approaches across multiple countries, SHARED GREEN DEAL demonstrates how collaboration can drive societal innovation and sustainable development.
Driving innovation through engineering and architectural sustainability
The Centre for Engineering and Architectural Sustainability brings together engineers, architects and sustainability specialists to address challenges including climate change, resource scarcity and urban growth. Its research focuses on clean energy, resilient infrastructure, sustainable cities, biodiversity and water security, and is delivered through partnerships with industry, government and communities. By connecting fundamental research with real-world application, the Centre helps turn innovative ideas into practical solutions that support sustainable development and infrastructure resilience.
Transforming healthcare innovation with the NHS
Our partnership with NHS England provides one of the clearest examples of innovation delivering impact at national scale.
The NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme, established with ARU in 2016, enables NHS staff to develop solutions to real healthcare challenges alongside their clinical careers. By June 2026, the programme had supported the creation of 691 businesses, generated 5,184 jobs and helped participating companies raise more than £1.27 billion in investment. Products, processes and services developed through the programme have benefited an estimated 278 million people worldwide. In 2026, NHS England committed a further £4.8 million to enable ARU to continue delivering and expanding the programme over the following five years.
Creating a new AI innovation hub with Arm
In March 2026, ARU and Cambridge-based semiconductor and software company Arm opened the ARU Arm AI Lab. Based on our campus in Cambridge and made possible through a donation from Arm, the facility gives academics, researchers and students access to advanced Arm-based computing and creates a shared environment in which the two organisations can collaborate on applied AI research, particularly in healthcare and life sciences. Arm is also co-funding an ARU PhD and plans further joint doctoral projects, while the wider partnership includes student industry projects, placement opportunities and ARU's membership of the Arm Semiconductor Education Alliance, established in 2023.
Turning university expertise into business growth
ARU's Knowledge Transfer Partnerships demonstrate how academic expertise can transform the innovative capacity of individual businesses.
In November 2025, our partnership with Chelmsford-based Detoxpeople received Innovate UK's Business Transformation Award and a silver medal in its Golden Award, which marked 50 years of the KTP programme and considered projects from around 16,000 partnerships since 1975. The collaboration enabled the creation of GMPriority Pharma, brought specialist liposomal manufacturing in-house in the UK and supported commercial expansion into more than 27 countries, while continuing to generate local employment.
Using innovation to transform life-science logistics
In October 2025, we launched another Innovate UK-supported Knowledge Transfer Partnership, this time with Bedfordshire-based Life Science Group. Researchers are working with the company to improve technologies that allow biological cells to be transported at ambient temperature rather than relying solely on cryopreservation in liquid nitrogen. The partnership brings ARU's molecular biology and biochemical expertise together with the company's commercial knowledge with the goal of extending applications of its technologies and potentially reducing the cost, waste and environmental impact associated with transporting biological materials.
Opening innovation infrastructure to Peterborough
ARU's contribution to regional innovation is particularly visible at ARU Peterborough. In August 2024, the University completed the new £32 million Lab, developed through partnership with Peterborough City Council and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority. Alongside microbiology and tissue-culture laboratories and engineering workshops, the building contains a Living Lab designed for students and the wider community, with exhibitions and events intended to stimulate interest in STEM. The building achieved BREEAM Excellent, and approximately 89 tonnes of CO₂ emissions were saved during construction.
That investment is part of a wider partnership approach to economic development. In September 2026, ARU Peterborough received the University Alliance Regional Impact Award for its contribution to local economic growth, skills development and social mobility. Its initiatives include Upskill Peterborough for young people outside education, employment or training; and the BOOST programme, through which ARU has benefited hundreds of local small businesses. Our Arise Innovation Hubs support Health, Performance and Wellbeing companies that are looking for partnerships, opportunities to connect and access to university facilities at ARU. This initiative has supported 71 businesses and 283 jobs during 2024/25, demonstrating the wider contribution that university-business partnerships can make to a regional innovation ecosystem.
Supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs
ARU also creates routes for students and graduates to turn innovative ideas into new enterprises. In 2026, ThinkBigARU, supported by the Engineers and Scientists in Business Fellowship and North Essex Economic Board, provided mentoring and financial awards to emerging ventures spanning educational technology, cybersecurity, textile recycling, robotics and smart products. Projects included a patent-pending system designed to enable large-scale textile recycling and autonomous robots intended to clean and inspect ship hulls more safely and sustainably. More broadly, our Anglia Ruskin Enterprise Academy supported 115 new graduate start-ups during 2024/25.
Last updated: October 2026
To request additions, corrections or changes to the information in these pages, please contact: Dr Zareen Bharucha: [email protected]. Please use the subject line ‘ARU SDG’.