November Workshop Supporting Researchers to Create Innovation Driven Enterprises

The STARTED Project, coordinated by NUI Galway’s TechInnovate programme, will host a free workshop ‘Supporting Researchers to Create Innovation Driven Enterprises’ in the Maldron Hotel, Sandy Road, Galway from 9.30am-4.30pm on Thursday, 14November 2019.

The event, in partnership with the West Regional Skills Forum, is an exciting opportunity to gain intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship skills tailored for those working on new product development, research or innovation within companies or startups.

Participants will gain a detailed insight into bringing innovations from potential customer engagement through to successful commercialisation or technology transfer. They will also be the first in Europe to have free access to associated online tools, developed as part of the STARTED Project, to test the feasibility of their innovations.

Online tools include:

• E-learning Platform “Validate Your Idea” is an interactive, free e-learning course designed to introduce researchers to entrepreneurship and guide them through the main steps on how to validate the business potential of their idea. Starting from the market discovery, the researchers will learn and apply fundamental concepts through a series of lessons that include both learning material and exercises.
• ResearchInno Database is the first database specifically designed for researchers who intend to evaluate the entrepreneurial potential of their invention/project/idea and helps them find potential partners, resources and competitors in their specific industry.          

A roundtable on the day will explore the additional skills needs for research and development functions in industry to input into the development of funded and subsidised future training courses for the region.

Denise Rocks, West Regional Skills Forum Manager based at NUI Galway, said: “This is an exciting chance for those working in Research and Development, or in a team for which innovation is essential, to gain an edge from the incredible team at TechInnovate and to learn the principles and practice of disciplined entrepreneurship to startup or spinoff their innovations.”

John Breslin, Director of TechInnovate at NUI Galway, said: “We are delighted to give this free workshop on Disciplined Entrepreneurship with the STARTED Project, sponsored by Erasmus+, and the Regional Skills Forum. The aim is to move from storytelling about entrepreneurship to practical skills development on how to go about being an entrepreneur or intrapreneur, and we will have an experienced team of five lecturers and researchers from TechInnovate at NUI Galway giving a varied set of useful sessions on the day.”

The STARTED Project is an Erasmus+ Knowledge Alliance initiative funded by the European Commission. It aims to reinforce and structure a European network for promoting entrepreneurship and innovation in the Research and Development area while improving the flow of knowledge and win-win cooperation between Higher Education Institutes and businesses. For more information visit: www.startedproject.eu/.

The West Regional Skills Forum is an initiative of the Department of Education and Skills, serving Galway, Mayo and Roscommon. The Forum Manager acts as a single contact point in the region to help employers connect with the range of services and supports available across the education and training system. For more information visit www.regionalskills.ie.

To register to attend this free event visit, www.bit.ly/startedworkshop.

For more information about the event, contact Denise Rocks, West Regional Skills Forum Manager at deniserocks@regionalskills.ie.

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