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A dozen university teams are still in the running to host the world-class centres of enterprise that the government has promised, writes Julia Hinde.

Twenty-eight universities applied to the Science Enterprise Challenge - the Pounds 25 million initiative announced in the pre-budget report last November that called for eight new centres of enterprise in UK universities.

The centres should equip scientists and engineers with entrepreneurial and business skills, and act as centres of excellence for the transfer and exploitation of knowledge and know-how.

Finalists must now submit more detailed proposals, with a final decision expected in late summer.