19 Dec Combining Science and Business
The science industry is a highly competitive industry; scientists are applying for patents, licenses and firm founding (starting their own firms) to commercialize their research results. Due to the competition, academic scientists are facing high expectations to engage in academic entrepreneurship. Having had years of experience in the industry, it became clear to our coordinators, Dasja Pajkrt and Katja Wolthers that the next generation of scientists must be able to navigate through the business side of academic sciences.
The three pillars
While science plays an important role within our project, we believe that it is important to also delve beyond science. Therefore, upon the initial stages of designing the OrganoVIR project, Dasja and Katja decided to implement non-scientific training into the OrganoVIR training program.
As a result, the OrganoVIR project is based on three pillars; scientific academic training, a personal development plan (PDP) and a pre-Master of Business Administration (pre-MBA). Through these three training programs, OrganoVIR delivered the next generation of scientists who will hold a unique position in the European labor market. By participating in our project, our Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) were trained not only in the fields of organoids for virus research but also in leading with compassion and an entrepreneurial mindset.
Going beyond science
While the PDP trained our scientists to develop their human skills, the OrganoVIR pre-MBA provided knowledge on entrepreneurship and business analytics. As most young researchers end up working in a commercial setting, the pre-MBA consists of five modules that will help our ESRs to operate within the commercial side of academic sciences. As such, Edo Roos Lindgreen and Vanessa Rijkeboer, business experts from the Amsterdam Business School decided on the following five modules; Process Improvement in Healthcare, Competitive Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Crisis Management and Navigating Life in Pharma Organizations and Writing a Business Plan.
Future leaders of science
At OrganoVIR, we believe that our three pillars will guide the next generation of scientists to become compassionate leaders in the science industry, with a specific focus on organoids for virus research. By being trained in science, personal development, and business administration, our ESRs will have all the skills required to excel amongst their competition in the labor market. As said by our ESR Andrew J. Barnhart, “The OrganoVIR training program provided me with a holistic way of growing. The pre-MBA gave me a more business understanding of how organoids can be used, the scientific training was fundamental, and the personal development program helped me understand myself better”.
To provide you with a better understanding of our training program, we created a video that summarized lessons learned within each training programs. In this video, some of our ESRs introduced the three pillars and described their personal experiences with the OrganoVIR training program. To watch this video, click on the button below: