The government has earmarked Pounds 25 million to set up eight university centres of enterprise to encourage scientists to turn their ideas into commerce.
Stephen Byers, secretary of state for trade and industry, this week unveiled the Science Enterprise Challenge, which will focus on teaching enterprise in the science and engineering curricula.
"If we are to turn science into prosperity we need businesses to learn how to exploit our potential and scientists to learn how to turn their ideas into commercial reality," he said. "We can do better than we have in the past. These centres will help by acting as a regional focus."
Experts with a track record of exploitation of science and engineering will help guide researchers in taking their ideas from conception to full commercialisation.
While start-up companies will be encouraged, research will be matched with existing businesses willing to exploit their potential. David Blunkett, secretary of state for education and employment, said: "We need to make better use of the expertise in our universities and for this they need both enterprise skills and a better understanding of how business works."
Mr Byers also announced an expansion of the Faraday Partnership scheme, which aims to forge closer links between the scientific and business communities in specific areas of technology.
The minister invited consortia of independent research organisations, universities, businesses and financiers to bid for four new partnerships in addition to investing more in the four existing ones.
The Department of Trade and Industry is putting Pounds 4.8 million into the new partnerships, while Pounds 4 million will come from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Mr Byers said it was hoped to expand the scheme to 20 by 2003.
The UK centres of enterprise are:
* Bristol University- Pounds 2.6 million
* University of Cambridge - Pounds 2.9 million
* University of Glasgow with Dundee, Edinburgh, Heriott-Watt and Strathclyde Universities - Pounds 4 million
* Imperial College - Pounds 2 million
* London Business School with University College London - Pounds 4.6 million
* UMIST with Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan and Salford Universities - Pounds 3.2 million
* University of Nottingham - Pounds 2.5 million
* University of Sheffield with Leeds and York - Pounds 2.9 million