SPAIS students tackle food insecurity at Hackathon

On 23 and 24 January, students in the School of Sociology, Politics and International Relations came together to tackle food security issues in Bristol.  

Organised in partnership with the Transform Society, the annual SPAIS Hackathon brings together students, academics, and the local community to research a big issue facing our community. This year, the challenge focused on food security and how to involve Bristol students in solutions. 

Across the two-day event, students worked in small teams to research the issue, create a project outline, and present their project to a team of industry experts. The event also included talks from the Transform Society’s CEO James Darley about the public sector and working in public service; as well as the Careers Service, on how students could use their experience at the Hackathon in future job applications and interviews.  

Food market selling vegetables in wooden crates.

Teams had a £10 000 budget to create a feasible idea, with this year’s projects including: 

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My SME Internship: Anika – Safer Industries

“Hi, I’m Anika. For my SME Internship, I was working for a start-up called Safer Industries Ltd.

A photo of Anika smiling.

I worked closely with the founder, Tim, to begin fleshing out the brands of his company and organise some elemental ideas around environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policy.

Apart from occasional meetings in local Bristol cafés, my work was remote and flexible.

By the end of my internship, which spanned two months part-time during term-time, we had collaboratively created logos for one brand and created a Venn diagram covering some starting points for what would later be developed into a comprehensive and novel ESG policy. 

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How an SME Internship can kick start your entrepreneurial career

“The decisions you make at University are often life-shaping. They set the tone for your future and compound over decades”

Adam Chambers is a Bristol History (BA) alum, and President of Nurse Recruitment Experts. In his third year at the University of Bristol he participated in our SME Internship Scheme.

Here are his thoughts on how this has shaped his career:

“Why am I writing to encourage you to apply for an SME Internship? 

I started Nurse Recruitment Experts (NRX) in 2019, nine months after graduating from studying History at Bristol.  

Since then, we’ve sourced and hired 10,000 plus Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, and Certified Nursing Assistants for health systems across the US and Canada.

A photo of Adam smiling, outdoors in a suit.
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Founder’s keepers – advice from a working start-up

The New Enterprise Competition 2023 has come to an end. We caught up with finalist Ben Wainwright who comes loaded with lived experience from the world of start up.


Tell us about yourself and what sparked your interest in entrepreneurship.

Remap founder Ben Wainwright.

My name is Ben Wainwright and I am a co-founder and CTO of Remap Mental Fitness.

At Remap, we teach working professionals and global brands how to train their mind to improve how they think, feel and perform.

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My IKEEP project helping to protect children online 

The IKEEP programme offers students free business training and industry experience through a paid team placement with a small enterprise.

Marketing undergraduate Nina tells us about her IKEEP project placement with non-profit Better Together and how it’s inspired her future career plans. 


Nina, can you tell us about your IKEEP project with Better Together?

Marketing student Nina Yang

Better Together offers workshops and resources on online safety, specifically targeting parents, guardians, caregivers, teachers, and other professionals working with children and young people. They also provide workshops tailored to adult internet use.

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Science meets the arts in an IKEEP work placement

Electrical and Electronic Engineering student Tirenioluwa Omigbodun recently took on the challenge of an IKEEP placement with independent arts venue The Bristol Improv Theatre (BIT).

She was part of a student team looking at external factors impacting the theatre so they can adapt and attract new audiences. 

 

Tirenioluwa Omigbodun posing for a selfie in front of the window overlooking Wills Memorial Building on a sunny day in Bristol.

Tirenioluwa, can you tell us about your team placement with Bristol Improv Theatre?

The placement with the Bristol Improv Theatre was on looking at their external environment. The theatre was preparing their 2023/25 business plan and needed a glimpse of the socio-economic environment. We researched their audience profiles, trends within the industry and how the BIT impacts its environment.  

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How to get into: Start-ups and SMEs

Are you innovative, self-driven and interested in working in a close-knit work environment? Then working in a start-up or SME might be the right career move for you!

On 28 February, the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law invited University of Bristol alumni to talk about their experiences in start-ups and SMEs, as part of the ‘How to get into…’ event series.

Read on for our speakers’ top tips for those interested in pursuing a career in the sector, as well as an overview of the sector and some useful links.

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Aman: My IKEEP experience with a tech start-up

The IKEEP (Intrapreneurial Knowledge Exchange Enterprise Pathway) programme, run by world-leading business incubator SETsquared, offers free online training in entrepreneurship and business skills.

Some students then take on a project with an innovative SME. We caught up with epidemiology postgrad Aman Jat after he finished his IKEEP placement with medical tech start-up Microsol.

Aman Jat at the beach in Cornwall

Aman, can you tell us more about the project you were working on? 

Microsol is a science start-up focused on delivering AI-enabled software products for predicting aerosol properties in respiratory drug delivery. Microsol directly contribute to the advancement of respiratory therapeutics, which is beneficial to society and the economy.

The aim of our project was to plan Microsol’s public launch. A key objective was to develop a marketing campaign, find prospective investors from data and expand their network, as well as enhance their web presence.

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How to get into: business intelligence, data analytics, and artificial intelligence.

It’s no surprise that career opportunities within the business intelligence, data, and AI sectors have grown massively in recent years.

Data is everywhere, so data analytics is critical in helping businesses improve all types of decision outcomes.

Technology is constantly unearthing new ways to be innovative and efficient, making it an equally exciting and challenging area to work within.

On 14 March 2023, we were joined by three speakers who shared their experiences of internship, leadership, and entrepreneurship within these evolving areas of the technological industry, and how students from a range of academic backgrounds can go into them.

Our speakers were:

Teik Keat Tee
Finance Business Intelligence Intern  

Sam Haynes
Head of Risk Analytics  

Helen Tanner
Director at Data Cubed 


Here are our top 7 takeaways from the event:

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Jumpstart: land a role in a top start-up.

Get Hired, our flagship spring career fair is taking place on Wednesday 3 May, from 12:30 pm to 4 pm at Bristol Beacon, Trenchard Street (near Bristol Hippodrome).

On the run-up to Get Hired, we will be hosting a series of employer-led sessions to help you prepare for, and make the most out of, the fair. So if you are unsure what to do at a careers fair, or want some tips on how to research the attending employers, and what questions to ask; head to mycareer to explore our Prepare to Get Hired sessions.

Jumpstart, whose mission is to make startups a valuable career path for everyone, are one of the organisations presenting a Prepare to Get Hired skill session. We recently caught up with Jumpstart’s co-founder Kabir, to hear about his experience as an entrepreneur. 

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