How to become a sciencepreneur

The Entrepreneurial Skills workshop series offers early career researchers a hands-on introduction to innovation. Six half-day courses cover topics such as realizing the entrepreneurial impact of your research, how to get started, and getting your innovation project funded.

To learn how to become a sciencepreneur can provide a concise introduction to entrepreneurship as a career path. The topics lay a foundation to turn research insights into products that can be tested with real users. Discover if entrepreneurship is right for you and achieve a successful start as a science-based founder. 

Lecturer: Michio Painter

Content:
This session introduces researchers in the natural sciences to the practical question of how scientific work can translate into real-world impact. Participants explore how to recognize the value hidden in their own research results, how to trace that value to concrete use cases, and how to think in terms of future products rather than publications.

The workshop shows how reframing research objectives as testable hypotheses about applications opens new pathways for entrepreneurship. You will examine how scientific reasoning aligns with early venture creation, what changes when moving from academic curiosity to problem-driven innovation, and how to identify where your expertise could meaningfully change an industry.

Learning objectives:
The goal is to equip researchers with a clear sense of how their work can matter beyond the lab, and how entrepreneurial thinking expands (not replaces) the scientific mindset.

• Understand where scientific innovations generate value for specific users or industries
• Translate research insights into hypotheses about future applications or products
• Recognize the mindset shift from academic exploration to entrepreneurial problem-solving
• Identify early signals that a research result may hold venture potential

Prerequisites:
Motivation to create impact beyond publications

Register here

Lecturer: Chantal Schmelz

Content:
The common narrative often favours a story where every innovation or startup begins with a breakthrough idea. The truth is that the only way to have real impact is by creating a deep understanding of the "Why" behind a new solution. In this workshop you'll learn how to reframe a research question into a problem that can be addressed with entrepreneurship. In groups we will experiment with ;powerful methods to gain different perspectives on your problem, develop and choose among ideas and identify what target groups that could benefit from a solution. You will learn how to frame your problem description in a way that resonates with potential users or customers.

Learning objectives:

• You will understand the concept of the Golden Circle by Simon Sinek
• You will have re-evaluated and clarified your (potential) target user with his/her core needs, behaviours, pains, and gains.
• You will have written down, re-framed, and validated your Why with the help of peer feedback

Register here

Lecturer: Chantal Schmelz

Content:
Understanding how the "Why" behind your idea and thus your target users pains and gains directly impact the design of your product or service. Most successful startup founders have learned to apply a human-/customer-centered design approach and with this ensure a higher Product-Market-Fit right out of the gates.  In this workshop, you'll gain the essential knowledge and tools to match your idea and your why with your target users needs. You will learn how to verify your value hypothesis in a cost-effective and timely manner.

Learning objectives:

• You will understand the concept and importance of product-market fit
• You will have formed hypothesis on how to match your idea and your why with the customers' needs and design a promising product/service
• You will have gained the tools and techniques to verify your hypothesis in a cost-effective and timely manner

Register here

Lecturer: Chantal Schmelz

Content:
Having defined your core, your Why, and the most promising product/service, it is important to - early on - also think about the right way to offer your product to your target audience. You need to define your business model. Thus, in this workshop you'll gain the essential knowledge about tested and proven business models in different industries, their pros and cons and will learn how to apply this to your idea/startup with the help of the Business Model Canvas. 

Learning objectives:

• You will understand the concept and importance of business models
• You will get an overview over tested and proven business models in different industries and learn about their pros and cons
• You will create your first business model based on your hypothesis and get input how to verify your assumptions

Register here

Lecturer: Chantal Schmelz

Content:
If you strive for purpose and maximum impact with your idea/startup, it is important to build these goals intro your business model. In this workshop, you'll gain the essential knowledge and tools about how the ESG (environmental, social and governmental) standards can and should be integrated in your business model.

Learning objectives:

• You will understand the concept and importance of the ESG standards (plus UN Global SDGs)
• You will create or extend your business model with a triple bottom line with the help of the Sustainable Business Model Canvas
• You will learn about metrics and performance indicators that might help you find the right balance in your sustainable business model

Register here

Lecturer: Manuel Merki / Humboldt University

Content:
Research results only create value when they leave the lab and enter the world. This session uses an interactive game format to expose participants to the realities, bottlenecks, and opportunities of technology transfer. The format is fast, practical, and grounded in real cases from the innovation ecosystem. 

Participants learn how scientific insights evolve into applications, products, or services—and why many promising ideas never make it. The session promotes strategic thinking, transferable skills, and a clear understanding of innovation pathways.

The session is based on an interactive simulation (“Serious Transfer Game”) combined with guided discussion, reflection phases, and short input segments. Participants learn by actively taking decisions in realistic transfer scenarios.

Learning objectives:

• Assess whether a research result has realistic transfer potential
• Recognize structural obstacles in technology transfer and evaluate ways to address them
• Map out early steps toward translating scientific results into societal or economic value
• Reflect on the roles of researchers, institutions, and partners in the transfer process

Register here

Participants can register directly on the respective workshop description (click on title).

A certificate of participation will be issued for each workshop. When four or more certificates are achieved, participants may request a certificate for "Entrepreneurial skills" issued by the Graduate Campus and Innovation Hub.    

1 ECTS Credit will be awarded (on request) to PhD candidates who have completed four or more workshops of the "Entrepreneurial skills" series. 

The UZH Innovation Hub collaborates with the Graduate Campus to deliver a workshop series for entrepreneurial early career researchers at the University of Zurich. It is part of the GRC Transferable Skills course program for the Fall Semester 2025 and in accordance to the action plan (Teilprogramm 1  «Aktionspläne zur Postdoc-Phase») appoved by swissuniversities. The goal is to give PhDs and PostDocs the chance to look into entrepreneurship as a career path and explore the potential of their ideas.