DESY Start-up Office reposted this
Just back from two great days in Berlin, where I was very honoured to co-host a thematic table at The Transatlantic Big Science Conference together with Robert Okabe from our partner institution the Discovery Partners Institute in Chicago, part of the University of Illinois System. DESY and the Discovery Partners Institute have an active collaboration with the aim of supporting each other’s technology transfer and innovation activities. This collaboration encompasses among other activities, the sharing of best practices and the opportunity for mentoring and supporting startup teams regarding market entry in the US or Germany. DPI faculty also support the current DESY Startup School as lecturers and mentors. In Berlin, we discussed during the thematic table what needs to be done to foster more #startup activities from the impressive science base in world-leading national labs on both sides of the Atlantic. The discussion concluded that #education in schools and at universities has a crucial role to play to prepare future scientists not only for a scientific career but also to inspire them and equip them with the necessary skills to spin-off a business. Secondly, the political and legal framework is very important for the success of startups further down the line. It is still harder for startups to raise sufficient funds in Europe than it is in the US. In the US, the #SBIR and the #STTR programs play an important role in funding early stage deep-tech startups' R&D. Federal Agencies participating in the programs are required to dedicate 3% of their R&D budget to R&D projects run in conjunction with small businesses or startups. This could be an interesting model for Germany to help close the funding gap. Thank you to Robert Okabe, Arik Willner, Michael Rossbach, Prof. Dr. Franz Kaertner, Petra Vorsteher, Ragnar Kruse, Ioannis Legouras and Egbert Jolie for a great discussion!
