Industry Engagement Training for Researchers

I would absolutely recommend the program. It was very complete. One of the things I liked most was that the team that was delivering had very different backgrounds that complement each other – we had perspectives from industry and from a person who spent many years in research. The course was very example-based, not abstract and theoretical, but similar problems to what the researchers will go through, so they could relate to that. It was a very solid base. Researchers have the skills and capabilities to build from that base.

The importance of the emotional connection was something that really stuck out for me, because my instinct as a scientist is to talk information and facts, not necessarily thinking about how someone feels about something, or what would make them interested. That was really useful. Before this, I thought you had to have something ready to market and sell before you go and talk to industry, but it’s important to think about longer-term relationships and establishing those relationships early.

This workshop has truly been transformational. Since the workshop, I have honed my skills to better represent myself, my research team and the university as I engage with valuable external connections. Moreover, I have since had the opportunity to engage with a further two potential collaborators and was much more confident and skilled in my approach with successful outcomes on both counts. Having attended a number of workshops as part of my PhD program, this one stands out as having immediate effect – I only wish I could have done it sooner! 

I would definitely recommend the course, both to researchers close to translation – with a product almost ready to go to market – but also to researchers still doing basic research. Putting a pitch together forces you to think about your value proposition: What can you add to the world? As scientists, we’re very dry. We think that when we talk to a company, we need to speak in statistics and money. From this course, it’s very clear that we also need to use emotions. That’s how people get involved and interested in what you have to say.