Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

MSU, which manages its own well-established science park, believes that a formalised relationship with Cambridge Science Park would create a two-way flow of expertise between Cambridge and Moscow companies. MSU Science Park has 40 tenant companies, employing in the region of 2,500.

Visiting Cambridge as part of a fact-finding mission, Dr Oleg Movsesyan, CEO, MSU Science Park, said the degree of synergy between the science parks created significant potential for trade.

Around 40 per cent of MSU’s companies operate in IT and software, with other tenants involved in biotech, telecoms and new materials.

Patrick Horsley of Cambridge Visits, who organised the mission for the British Council, said an official agreement was still some way off, but that the initial signs were encouraging.

MSU was in Cambridge to gather intelligence for an international science park conference it is planning in November.

Especially keen to establish best practice in creating accommodation for start-up ventures, the delegation met with leading figures in business creation including Dr David Secher, director of research services division at the University of Cambridge, Dr Peter Hiscocks, head of Cambridge Enterprise and Prof Chris Lowe at the University’s Institute of Biotechnology, who has an outstanding record in spin-out creation.

Horsley said that the delegation examined the interaction between Cambridge Science Park and other innovation structures including the University’s technology transfer office.

It was also keen to learn about the terms offered to early-stage companies.