The clinic sessions are designed to assist companies with their specific issues in accordance to the activities of these two partnerships.

The Medical Devices Faraday Partnership mission is to 'provide the national infrastructure to facilitate the development and commercialisation of medical devices and biomaterials for new and improved patient treatment and increased competitiveness for UK healthcare industries'. The Pro-Bio Faraday Partnership (www.pro-biofaraday.com) is an national collaboration between universities and industry to encourage industrial biocatalysts through the integration of life sciences with process engineering.

Any company with an interest in medical devices and biotechnology will benefit from attending this meeting. The Faraday Partnerships offer support to industry in various forms. On the day details will be given about relevant research funding available, potential collaborations and sources of information (including free helpdesk services) and training. It will be a valuable networking opportunity, especially for SMEs, who are encouraged to attend. Early registration is necessary for this event as numbers are limited and places are available on a first come first served basis.

The Medical Devices Faraday Partnership was set up in September 2002, by the DTI, together with the EPSRC and BBSRC. This major initiative addresses a growing industrial sector, with complex issues covering changing demographics, a more medically aware society, and increasing regulatory requirements to be delivered by a diverse industrial sector comprising a few large organisations and many SMEs.

Medical devices, in the scope of this Partnership, encompasses all devices which are implantable, semiimplantable, permanent or disposable, and act in some way on the human body. This spans the range of medical disciplines from orthotics, orthopaedics and ophthalmics, to cardiovascular, urology and dentistry, and includes active as well as passive devices. The prime focus is on capturing know-how and IP and exploiting this knowledge to the benefit of the UK, from both a financial and healthcare viewpoint.

The Faraday Partnerships are a concept developed by the UK government to improve the industry/academia interface and hence enhance UK competitiveness. The 'Faraday Principles', designed to encourage closer contact and exchange between the knowledge base and business, are expressed as being:

. to promote active flows of people, industrial technology and innovative business concepts amongst the science and technology base and industry . to promote the partnership ethic in industrially relevant research organisations, business and the innovation knowledge base . to promote core research that will underpin business opportunities . to promote business-relevant postgraduate training, leading to lifelong learning.

www.medical-devices-faraday.com