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Entrepreneurship education

from Annual Report UZH Innovation Hub 2022

from Annual Report UZH Innovation Hub 2022, page 17

#stories

Good ideas and breakthrough research results are only one ingredient for innovation. New products and services are a result of hard work by motivated and talented people. Therefore, part of the university‘s innovation strategy is the fostering of entrepreneurial skills among its talents.

In 2022, six different hands-on entrepreneurship courses and a Minor in BioMed Entrepreneurship were attended by more than 260 participants. Some of the courses are offered by university entities, such as the Institute for Regenerative Medicine (IREM) or the Department of Economics. Others are offered in partner- ship with external partners, such as the Innosuisse Business Concept Course run by Startup Campus. Moreover, several courses have been initiated in a joint effort with the UZH Innovation Office, for example, the Digital Ventures Seminar, which is offered together with the Chair for Entrepreneurship or the UZH Innovathon, a collaboration with the Digital Society Initiative. The courses convey know-how around business idea validation, market studies, IP protection and competences such as team building, ideation, prototyping and pitching.

Coaches supporting the teams to get to the next level

“I just enjoy seeing the creative directions that people have and how they think”

Rolemodels that inspire

“I am glad that I could support the student teams by sharing my experience from working with a wide range of innovation and startup teams at Swissnex in San Francisco. The best teams all share the same key ingredients: Intellectual diversity, psychological safety and a joint purpose worth fighting for.”

Talents with a passion to become changemakers

“I was really happy to find out about the Bootcamp since I had a startup idea but needed some guidance. During the course I met a lot of like-minded people and gained valuable insights into the startup world. I could improve the value proposition of my product and got challenged on the product-market fit. I encourage anyone interested in creating something on their own to join this course”

Community that extends beyond the course

“Working with various teams and their innovative ideas provided me with an invaluable experience. Thanks to my participation in the BioEntrepreneurship & Innovation (BEI) Program I have become part of a larger community of bioentrepreneurs and experts. This has fired my motivation to pursue my own business idea.”