Entrepreneurship School for Scientists and Engineers

This school is a one-week intensive course aimed at students studying a STEM subject, and for those who are interested in gaining entrepreneurial skills with the view to commercialise scientific ideas or inventions.

Participants will explore the connection between science and business, and sessions will be delivered by experts in business and in technological applications involving agriculture, health and education. In addition to discussing these technological applications, the school will also introduce topics that are fundamental to business such as intellectual property (IP) and patenting, business plan fundamentals, technology readiness levels, market analysis, business financials, presentation and pitching skills and several others. Students will have the opportunity to practise their pitching skills through a group project and a pitching competition at the end of the week.

The fourth day of the school, October 18, will be dedicated to the Conference on Industry-University Interactions in Brazilian Physics. This conference will bring together experts to discuss and share knowledge about University-Industry cooperation. Applicants of this school are automatically registered to participate in this conference.

There is no registration fee and limited funds are available for travel and local expenses.

In order to have an idea of the kind of activities that take place during the school, please visit the home-page of the first edition of this event at http://www.ictp-saifr.org/entrepreneurship

Booklet including School Program:  PDF updated on October 4, 2018

Organizers:

• Surya Raghu (ET-CUBE, USA)
• Linsey Clark (IOP, UK)
• Natasha Diez (IOP, UK)
• Nathan Berkovits (ICTP-SAIFR/IFT-UNESP, Brazil)
• Richard Brooks (FD Solutions,  UK)
• Rodrigo Marques (IQ-UNESP, Brazil)

Satisfaction survey:

• ICTP-SAIFR online form:  here
• video impressions:  here

• Luciano Avallone Bueno, UFABC. Coordinator of the Service and Continuous Education (DEF) division of the Innovation and Research Agency. Consultant of companies in Innovation Management. Mentor of the Inovativa Brasil program (MDIC) and 100 Open Startups. Member of the Parliamentary Front of the State of São Paulo for Entrepreneurship and Innovation by UFABC.
• Paulo Camargo, SMARTOYS: areas of sustainability, entrepreneurship and innovation. Master’s degree from the Leuphana Business School in Germany.
• Guilherme Dal Lago, Director of Pulse Hub (RAIZEN). Pulse Hub: A space that brings together the entrepreneurial creativity and the experience of members of the market and investors with the depth of the universities.
• Cleidson Diniz Teixeira, Director of Buzzy Importação e Exportação.
• Alessandro Rizzato, External Affairs & Funding Excellence Manager (SOLVAY/RHODIA) and National Association for Research and Development of Innovative Companies (Anpei)
• Ricardo Yogui, National Association for Research and Development of Innovative Companies (Anpei) and PUC-Rio Innovation Agency (AGI/PUC-Rio), Knowledge/Tech Transfer  & Partnerships Open Innovation Projects & Program)

Announcement

Application online is now closed

Booklet including School Program:  PDF updated on October 4, 2018

Entrepreneurship workshop for scientists and engineers

Interview with some participants

Registration: ALL participants should register. The registration will be on October 15 at the institute at 08:00 am.

List of Participants: Updated on October 16

Accommodation: Participants and Speakers whose accommodation has been provided by the institute will stay at The Universe Flat. Each participant/speaker, whose accommodation has been provided by the institute, has received the accommodation details individually by email.

How to reach the Institute: The workshop will be held at ICTP South American Institute, located at IFT-UNESP, which is across the street from a major bus and subway terminal (Terminal Barra Funda). The address which is closer to the entrance of the IFT-UNESP building is R. Jornalista Aloysio Biondi, 120 – Barra Funda, São Paulo. The easiest way to reach us is by subway or bus, please find instructions here.

Ground transportation instructions: 

Ground transportation from Guarulhos Airport to The Universe Flat

Ground transportation from Congonhas Airport to the Universe Flat

Ground transportation from The Universe Flat to the institute

Webinars from the Institute of Physics (IOP)To complement the advertised training, the IOP has designed a series of short online courses to assist aspiring entrepreneurs with some of the most important areas of business. The short courses will introduce students to specific areas of business and the basic underlining principles of those areas. The short courses are a great way of building up knowledge before attending the entrepreneurship workshop in October.The first course focuses on marketing for start-ups. Scientists can often find themselves with a brilliant idea, one that could solve the problems of their community, but are unaware of how to take their business idea to the market place. One fundamental consideration in this process is marketing and within that comes several questions. What approach is best? Who is the customer? How do businesses promote their product? What is the Unique Selling Point? These are just some of the questions that start-ups may find themselves asking, and our five-part online course can help answer those questions

Marketing for start-ups Session one – A lean approach to start-upThis session introduces and contrasts two approaches to setting up a business; the waterfall and the lean approach. The lean approach provides a foundation for the marketing sessions which follow and provides a process which can lower the risk of your start up failing. The lean approach is intimately linked to your market and involves your customers in your business right from the start. Understanding these two approaches will allow you to approach start up in a wiser, more agile way.Suggested reading: Where good ideas come from by Steve Johnson, The lean start-up by Eric Ries, Business model generation by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves PigneurTo view the recording of this session, please register via the link provided.

Session two – Crossing the chasm Geoffrey Moore has written widely on how to market and sell novel or disruptive high tech products to mainstream markets. This session will summarise the powerful marketing theory which underpins how to do this. This is essential knowledge for any tech entrepreneur. By segmenting the market into well-defined actors and groups, we can understand how to go from no traction to mainstream market penetration.Suggested reading: Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. MooreTo view the recording of this session, please register via the link provided.

Session three – Identify your market, know your customer What if your product has customers in different markets? What do you do? The capacity of your company and your market knowledge dictate that you will probably only be able to focus on one market, especially at the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey. It’s easy to waste time thinking you can develop lots of markets. This session explores how to identify your beach head market, and having identified your beach head, how to get into the minds of your customers by building customer personas.To view the recording of this session, please register via the link provided. 

Session four  – From persona to MVP specificationIt is important for all businesses to understand their USP’s. What really is the value in your business? Are you aligning the value you are building in your company with the needs of your customers? Are you confusing features with value? Investors are extremely good at seeing through a business and identifying the value in an investment proposition; entrepreneurs can gain much by understanding how they think.Suggested reading: Disciplined entrepreneurship by Bill Aulet (for session three and four)To view the recording of this session, please register via the link provided.

Session five – Promote your productYou have a product, you know who your customers are and you have product market fit. How do you get your product in front of your customers? This session will focus on inbound and channel marketing, solution selling, generating content, and the power of social media and the importance of face-to-face meetings.Suggested reading: Common sense direct and digital marketing by Drayton Bird and in bound marketing by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh ShahTo view the recording of this session, please register via the link provided.Another area that is important in business but may be an area that new businesses find challenging, is intellectual property (IP) and patenting. This can be a challenging but essential area that all new, and indeed existing businesses, need to work with. The laws and regulations surrounding IP and patenting differ from country to country however, what this course can do is provide an introduction to the topic and provide a good foundational knowledge going forward.

Intellectual property for technology entrepreneurs: a short course in protecting innovation and using to support your business Session one – What is IP, and why should you care?To view the recording of this session, please register via the link provided. 

Session two – Identifying and protecting your IPTo view the recording of this session, please register via the link provided. 

Session three – Using IP: how to extract the value in IPTo view the recording of this session, please register via the link provided. 

Session four – Identifying and respecting others’ IPThe registration for this session will open shortly, please check back at a later date. 

Session five – Agreements, transactions and disputesThe registration for this session will open shortly, please check back at a later date.