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Events

Here’s what our attendees have said about past events and what they found most useful:

Circles encapsulating quotes below

“Learning about the process that occurs from idea to commercialisation and how industry can help.”
“It is a great introduction on how to start to collaborate with industry, provides useful contacts.”
“The openness and honesty of the speakers.”
“Hear the experience of other postdocs and the tools I can use to make the transition.”
“The current picture of recruiting worldwide and the importance of networking.”
“To have an overview of a different career path rather than staying in academia.”
“Learning about the personal experience of someone who has created start-ups in the past.”

Venture Science Series

Overview

Join the PFDC and Imperial Enterprise Lab for a series of interactive workshops and talks that will broaden your skillset and give you exposure to industry. The series will introduce early career researchers to the building blocks of developing an idea or technology for commercial environments, covering ideation, testing an idea, business strategy, building a team and more*. During this series, you will also develop transferable skills to manage your entrepreneurial journey and succeed.

Key areas

Think Like an Entrepreneur – Wed 10 November 14.00-16.00 (Online) – register here
Are We There Yet? An Introduction to Commercial Readiness – Fri 19 November 14.00-16.00 (Face-to-face with online streaming)
Product Market Fit & Testing Your Idea
Entrepreneurial Finance
Gathering the Dream Team
Business Strategy for Beginners

*Please note IP knowledge, strategy and development will not be covered by the series as this is covered in the course How Intellectual Property Rights Can Impact Your Research. You can also watch the Imperial IP strategy video here and a talk about IP and IP law here.

ECRs who attend the series as a whole course and will be given a certificate at the end, however you are invited to attend only the sessions you feel more appropriate for you. If you are considering participating in Techcelerate or MedTech SuperConnector we strongly encourage you to register for a few of the sessions.

Wings for ideas Challenge – more information for ECRs in November, register your interest here.

The Wings for Ideas Challenge runs from October to February and is a unique setting that will join entrepreneurial mindsets and technical skills together and allow you to make that breakthrough for your business idea. Throughout the Challenge, you will participate in workshops on how to pitch business ideas and will take part in the final showcase where you will compete to win prizes.

We are keen for you to expand your network, grow your business skills and develop your entrepreneurial thinking that will open new and exciting doors in your career.

The Challenge is comprised of three phases:

Applications:
- Student idea applications (November) – this is where postgraduate students submit their applications with brief descriptions of their business ideas, the solutions they are trying to implement and the technical challenge they are facing.
- Early career researcher applications (December) – the business ideas are disclosed to the postdoc/fellow experts, and they get to apply to the ones where their expertise fit.

Pairing & Working together (January/February) – The Challenge teams will work together for four-five weeks, solve the technical challenge proposed, create/improve a business plan and a pitching slide deck.

The final showcase (end of February) - this will be held at the end of February. Challenge Teams will present their pitches in front of a jury.

Events

Venture Science Series

Wings for ideas Challenge – more information for ECRs in November, register your interest here.

IPFEN past events