Summer of IP is an outreach campaign led by our Careers in Ideas team. Its purpose is to raise awareness of IP-related careers, encourage a wider range of people to pursue them, and improve access to them by providing “taster” activities and guidance. Longer-term, of course, our aim is to increase equality, diversity and inclusivity within the UK’s IP sector.
The campaign includes events to raise awareness about IP generally and the careers available there, along with activities such as open days, workshops, talks, mentoring sessions and even work experience opportunities. Careers in Ideas provides the introductory materials and a central list of all the available activities.
Summer of IP 2024 will take place throughout the summer of 2024, kicking off officially on Monday 1 July. Many employer opportunities are already accepting applications (see our separate employer opportunities page) and we’re introducing more all the time. The introductory resources will be released on 1 July, although registrations have opened now for the live events: see below or visit this page for a full listing with sign-up links.
On 5 June we held an online launch event for careers advisers and outreach charities. That explained how Summer of IP works and the opportunities it offers for people considering a career in IP. It also provided a great overview of all the different roles available here – a fantastic way of expanding the insights you can provide as part of your careers advice and support. You can now access a recording of the event and the speakers’ slides.
The Summer of IP events and resources are open to anyone who’s interested in learning more about a career in IP. Our aim is to attract secondary school students, university students, graduates and career changers. With the help of our Careers in Ideas contacts, for example outreach and social mobility charities, we promote the campaign in particular to people in currently under-represented groups.
The programme will include a range of activities featuring different IP-related roles and for people at different stages of their education or career. Scroll to the bottom of this page to see them…!
Here we'll be posting the activities and events available with IP sector employers this year. There will be plenty more to follow...!
* Help more people access careers in IP, whatever their backgrounds
* Encourage more upstream diversity, leading to a larger and more diverse pool of talent to recruit from in the future
* Add value to the UK’s IP system, its users, and those employed within it by increasing the diversity of our workforce
* Generate positive PR for your organisation and demonstrate your commitment to EDI and social value
We’re inviting IP sector employers to sign up to provide some kind of activity during the campaign. It might be, for example, a “taster” day or half-day, a work experience placement (however brief), a mentoring opportunity, a workshop or mock hearing or CV clinic, or even just a short talk to inspire new recruits. Details such as content, format, timing and target audience are entirely up to you; Careers in Ideas is simply providing an umbrella under which all these initiatives can be promoted to a wider audience. We can provide some basic guidance, and ideas and resources if you need them, and we’ll advertise your activity or event on this Summer of IP web page.
If you’re committed to social value, this is a fantastic way to boost your efforts, and of course a valuable opportunity to attract new talent.
To find out more, take a look at our Summer of IP 2024 employer prospectus. There’s information about the 2023 Summer of IP campaign and its impact at https://ipinclusive.org.uk/careers-in-ideas/summer-of-ip-2023/.
To register your interest in providing an event or activity this year, please download and complete this form and send it to [email protected].
Please also read our activity provider guidelines, which we will ask you to adhere to when participating in Summer of IP.
You can also download some activity suggestions and resource links, but feel free to come up with your own ideas too.