Mentor4Research

The purpose of the Mentor4Research programme is to provide researchers who have little experience of commercialisation with the opportunity to work with business-oriented mentors to:

• get a deeper insight into the logic of the business world and the commercialisation process,
• increase their network of contacts in the business community and industry,
• make an initial assessment of the commercial potential of their research.

A select group of qualified researchers at universities and research institutes have been accepted into this exclusive mentor programme. The programme is open to researchers in all research fields. The business-oriented mentors have many years of industry experience and are handpicked based on each researcher’s individual situation and needs.

Mentor4Research is for researchers who are active in the very early stages. The idea of the programme is not to turn good researchers into bad entrepreneurs, but to promote a better understanding and increase contacts between researchers and people with considerable industry experience.
There are several different ways in which researchers participating in the programme will be impacted. One way is that they will gain new insights into how industry works and a better understanding of how to commercialise a new technology.

A more specific example of the impact of the programme is the ability to work more closely – or more effectively – with established companies. Another possible effect is having the chance to try starting a new company with others to commercialise research work, or perhaps, after having gained new insights, going back to research that is more basic in nature.  The “right” outcome depends on the researcher as an individual and the researcher’s unique situation.