About

Some say that there is a disparity between what students learn, and what business and industry actually need from new recruits.

Brief Cases, a model for co-operation between academia and industry, provides a range of challenges across various disciplines and pathways to enable student participation and engagement. The outcomes of the industry based projects contribute towards the final score in the degree programme.

Our competition briefs also have the flexibility to be applied as extra-curricular activities.

“In an increasingly competitive and complex business environment, Brief Cases tasks participants to research, devise and explain their ideas in a manner that is expected in a commercial context. Our projects offer students a unique opportunity to gain direct connections with industry and to tackle social and sustainability issues while answering the challenges we set within our business briefs.” 

Veronica Heaven, FRSA - Brief Cases Founder

For many, Brief Cases represents the first opportunity to engage with a client’s business agenda and the competitive nature of industry. It therefore helps in the following ways:

• Creates a link between business and education

• Encourages sustainability to be considered in commercial solutions

• Promotes excellence and creative application of learning

• Creates a practical application based learning module/environment

• Gives students a taste of working to a commercial brief

• Encourages peer review conditions

Drivers & Objectives

Future focused, with present actions.

Linking Business and University

Companies’ expectations of new recruits can differ greatly from what undergraduates anticipate. Brief Cases exposes students to conditions where they are required to tackle both industry and academic needs within one project. 

The ability to transfer knowledge into skills and understand the business environment is a coveted advantage, which helps students to prepare for the world of work. Brief Cases helps to bridge the gap between study and commercial reality.

Encouraging Enterprise

Micro and small businesses are vital to the UK economy contributing some £1.2 trillion in annual turnover and making up the vast majority of the business population (0-49 employees)*. Encouraging enterprising skills has never been more important. We need start-up businesses to thrive, as they are a key driver in business population growth. 

 Real life contact with business is a crucial aspect that underpins students’ ability to make sense of the lessons learned in the classroom and to apply those lessons in a commercial context. Brief Cases helps to facilitate this process through collaboration with a wide range of industry advocates and participating Universities who are committed to ensuring the best possible outcomes for those who take part. 

Brief Cases encourages entrepreneurship and employability skills, equipping students for a productive future life in business.

Sustainability and Innovation

As the world’s population grows and markets are internationalized, greater demands are put on the earth’s natural resources. 

 Business has a role to play in creating solutions and new ways of working. Using fewer resources better makes sense, therefore consideration of sustainable production processes and responsible design methods will be a key component in creating appropriate solutions for the future.  

Degree level students are encouraged to consider creative solutions that strike the balance between achieving high impact results, recognising environmental and social considerations and meeting the commercial remit.

 A range of challenges across various disciplines enable student participation. For the organisations involved, Brief Cases is an illustration of social responsibility leadership and fits with the desire to: encourage fresh thinking; increase innovation; promote mentoring and application-based learning. The scheme provides the scope to encourage internship opportunities and to identify potential new recruits.