Research and start-ups - do they go together? If you ask start-up consultant Ole Korn about the success rate of Potsdam Transfer's Startup Service, the answer is clearly positive. After all, EXIST start-up grants and research transfers have already been successfully acquired this year and numerous national and international start-up projects have been realised. The message is very clear: success is not guaranteed - but with support in the form of mentorship, expertise, funding, advice, co-working spaces and networks, it is worth taking the plunge!
Transferring ideas from research to society
‘The potential of science at the university can become understandable and tangible for society as a whole when findings and ideas from research become ‘real’ through start-up projects and young companies. And this is exactly where we provide support,’ explains Ole Korn from the central scientific centre for start-ups, innovation, knowledge and technology transfer at the University of Potsdam. To this end, Potsdam Transfer continuously implements projects as part of the federal programme EXIST - Start-ups from Science. The centre supports researchers, students and alumni with their technology-oriented or knowledge-based start-ups. ‘The prerequisite for this is that the idea comes from research and is innovative,’ explains Korn. ‘And when we say ‘innovative’, we mean a product or service that solves an existing problem in a new or more efficient way.’ The first step is to work with Potsdam Transfer to check whether the idea is eligible for funding, after which the team also helps with the application process.
More creative founding
An important component of this programme for a successful application are the mentors from a wide range of scientific disciplines. They support the start-up teams with their expertise in organising the project and can also attribute the funds raised to the chair, while Potsdam Transfer also takes on the majority of the bureaucratic work before, during and after the open-industry funding. For Dr Julia Brennecke, Professor of Business Administration at the University of Potsdam and mentor for start-up teams, this creates ideal conditions for everyone involved. She is already supporting the second project at Potsdam Transfer. ‘Thanks to my chair, which has a strong connection to innovation management, the link to business start-ups is obvious. I go through all the steps of a start-up with the Bachelor students.’ As a mentor, she contributes her core competences. ‘For example, I work with the teams to see how they can set up innovation-orientated network structures in order to access the resources they need to be more innovative, creative and therefore more successful when founding a company.’
Setbacks are also part of the process
The collaboration is very meaningful and enriching for both sides. As a professor, Julia Brennecke always has to keep an eye on the stability of three pillars: Research, teaching and transfer. In Brennecke's view, support with administration and third-party funding management, as provided by Potsdam Transfer, is essential in order to be able to concentrate fully on the founding team and their development as a mentor. How exactly this happens is always up to the team and the mentor responsible. ‘It's important to me that I'm approachable for the team. At the moment, for example, we also meet for lunch together to exchange ideas.’ This type of transfer of science into practice sounds promising at first. However, scientists often doubt whether they really have what it takes to become entrepreneurs. Ole Korn knows that these doubts are generally unfounded: ‘Many people think that, as scientists, they don't have the necessary skills to start a business. But that's a fallacy, because as an entrepreneur, you need a lot of the same things that happen in research: You work on an idea, make mistakes and learn from them. A background in business administration is not a prerequisite either - that's exactly what Potsdam Transfer's Startup Service is there for.’ Brennecke also emphasises how important it is to have the confidence to start a company from a scientific background: ‘The ability to continuously motivate yourself, stay on the ball and solve complex problems, manage research projects and bring everything together in the end is just as important in science as it is when setting up a company. This also includes setbacks, which many researchers are already familiar with from rejected publications or third-party funding applications and are better able to cope with. The main thing is to get up again and carry on.’ According to Brennecke and Korn, even if they don't end up founding a company, the teams still see the experience they have gained as positive and use it elsewhere or try again with another project. For Julia Brennecke, providing support as a mentor is also personally enriching: ‘You always take something away with you and learn something new. The teams show me that it's worth keeping your eyes open for everything that's out there.’
This article is from the university magazine Portal – Zwei 2024: Europa.
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