The two-year programme designed for this purpose and aimed at the scientific community is Faculty of Impact, a cross between a business administration course and individual guidance on how to start a business. Participants are selected by the Dutch Research Council with input from relevant experts.
Patents
The selected researchers receive training in key areas such as patenting, setting up a company and presentation skills. The trainers are experts from the professional field, including entrepreneurs, financial experts and lawyers. Their role includes helping the participants to familiarise themselves with the market and to seek funding.
The Dutch Research Council has been running it as a pilot project for two years. The first ten researchers have completed the programme and a further fourteen are about to finish their first year.
One participant has devised a technique for extracting CO2 from seawater and using it to grow vegetables. Another has developed a camera the size of a pill that can help detect oesophageal cancer at an early stage. A third participant is aiming to set up a production facility for batteries that function without the need for rare metals such as lithium.
Promising
Eppo Bruins, the Minister for Education, Science and Culture, describes the programme’s results as highly promising. He has announced 19.39 million euros’ worth of funding for a period of seven years. As a result, approximately 100 researchers will be able to take the programme in the coming period.
The idea for the new programme originated at University of California Berkely and was picked up in 2022 by Universities of the Netherlands and the Dutch Research Council, in conjunction with Techleap, an organisation that supports young tech companies.
Since 2011, the European Research Council has awarded proof of concept grants worth up to 150,000 euros to scientists working on practical applications for their research. These grants are spent on an individual basis.