ReActor is a project that provides entrepreneurship and innovation training for young scientists, through mentorship in applied research and technology transfer
Golinelli Foundation organizes and offers freely a high specialized school, with the partnership of 6 universities and the Italian national Center for research. The school selects business ideas with the highest potential among the one presented by PhD candidates, researchers and professors.
It offers a 12 weeks programme on entrepreneurship issues, from the development of the idea, to the business model, to the relationship with the market and stakeholders, to the professional presentation of the project. Teams will be supported by mentors and will meet experts and investors. After the 12 weeks training there will be a pitch. Winners will have the opportunity to attend an additional training in London, Philadelphia or San Francisco. The most successful ideas were clean tech projects, still contributing actively to a greener and sustainable development of the economy. Illustrative examples include:
-the development of a new breed of highly efficient green liquid batteries with the highest specific energy and recharge time ever reported;
-the development of highly efficient supercapacitors that minimize the use of energy while charging and discharging much faster than traditional batteries;
-the development of a new generation of beauty care products entirely based on locally sourced natural ingredients;
-the development of a software tool for molecular modelling that optimize use and efficient deployment of material base on electronic-structure methods
Resources needed
The project absorbs 80K per year for experts' salary and funding of the international scholarships (50%). The funding of the project so far has been provided by Fondazione Golinelli, together with Banca di Bologna, Fondazione del Monte and the University of Bologna(through the Management Department)
Evidence of success
ReActor School contributes to build the entrepreneurship culture among the researchers, increasing the number of those who transform their findings into a business. 10 Projects (EYECAN, MaterialX, KƎRX, OACP, Mind-IT, BETTERY, PerFrutto, E-steps, NOVAC, ADAPTRONICS) accelerated through ReActor, have been selected as best Ideas in regional, national, international competitions, such as National Innovation Award, Emilia Romagna Start-cup 2020, PNI 2020.
Difficulties encountered
The main challenge is to prompt a scientific mindset, usually shaped by several years of experience in the lab, to shift to an entrepreneurial one. Another crucial challenge is in the scouting phase: identify individuals with genuine potential to move from lab to market.
Potential for learning or transfer
ReActor is a free course of entrepreneurship and innovation that can be implemented in many regions, as it can easily be adapted to the specificity of each territory. It stimulates cooperation between young scientists - PhD students, fellows, young researchers, academics- and industry experts, investors, ventures capitalists and business angels.
A free school with experts and investor is a great way to improve the entrepreneurial responsibility of young scientist, and to invest in innovation.
Tags: Business, Collaborative entrepreneurship, Competitiveness, Cooperation, Education, Entrepreneurship, Good practice, Innovation, Responsibility, Science, Training
