Our enterprise competition – The Enterprise Challenge - is an entry-level competition which provides our students with the opportunity to test, validate and fund new ideas.
The competition is open to all current students from taught programmes and is delivered over two stages: submission of an online application followed by a pitch to judging panel.
For 2024-25, we have increased the total prize fund to £3,500 thanks to sponsorship from Forth Resource Management, GrowBiz and Anderson Strathern for the winning students and ideas. This competition is also supported with University Innovation Funding from the Scottish Funding Council.
“Before the competition I would have really struggled to present an idea to a judging panel, however the judges all made me feel very comfortable, which helped calm me down.” - Kayleigh Turner, 2022-23 Entrant
The Enterprise Challenge is now live and accepting applications until the 30 November deadline. Apply here via the SRUC Moodle.
“Tackling climate change needs to be a priority for all businesses and I was excited to put forward a business idea that had sustainability at its core for festivals and events."
“The prize money was an incredible opportunity towards making a prototype to test the technical feasibility of the fertiliser on the Rwandan market and collect feedback from farmers."
“Being a competition winner has allowed me to gain valuable experience and advice from industry experts that I plan to take action on to face issues within the meat industry!”
Past winners
Since its launch in September 2022, this competition has attracted more than 50 entries from students at SRUC campuses across Scotland, including everything from creative proposals for rural communities and innovative agritech designs to novel developments in sustainable food and drink in response to the climate emergency.
Learn more about the winners and their projects using the link below.
For more information:
Contact the Enterprise Academy
Other ways we learn through enterprise:
SEEDABLE
SEEDABLE is our award-winning four-year strategic curriculum project that embeds vital enterprise competencies across all our teaching programmes.
Enterprising Changemakers
Our institution-wide Enterprising Changemaker programme provides all our students the opportunity to develop their sustainable entrepreneurial thinking and knowledge.
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back to Enterprise AcademyEntrepreneurs in residence
Our esteemed Entrepreneurs in Residence play a crucial role in supporting our drive to become an enterprising university at the heart of the rural and natural economy.
Enterprising role models
We champion the work of Scotland's most inspiring sustainable entrepreneurs as we seek to encourage our students, educators and researchers in forging their own entrepreneurial paths.
Enterprise across our campuses
We deliver enterprise events and workshops across Scotland to inspire our students and educators into developing a mindset for sustainable enterprise.
The Sustainability Start-up School
The Sustainability Start-up School is a training programme which allows students to develop ideas and discover what it takes to build a business focused on delivering economic, environmental and social outcomes.
Working with others
We partner with Scotland's enterprise support organisations which allow us to bring further expertise and guidance to our budding entrepreneurs and allows them to establish and enhance their own business networks.