A successful launch day for the Innovation Academy

The event was the culmination of collective work carried out over several months for this project, led jointly by the Université de Lyon and Pulsalys. The launch evening on January 23 marked the start of a new adventure for the PhD students taking part in the Innovation Academy.

Objectives of the launch day

• Teach the PhD students how to go from a scientific project to an innovation project;
• Bring together teams working on innovation projects;
• Work on team-building.

The Innovation Academy, a 3-month, hands-on training program

• After the project leaders had given their pitches in the morning, the PhD students chose twelve innovative projects to develop through the Innovation Academy.
• After the teams had been formed, the PhD students worked on creating their innovative projects; they put forward the first suggestions for their applications/markets, analyzed risks and uncertainties, and prepared suitable product pitches to present the projects at the launch evening.
• The PhD students will go on to work in teams of four and develop their projects over three months. To do this, they will be supported by a mentor (an experienced professional from the innovation sector who has been employed by one or several companies in the private sector or who has set up their own company).

During the launch evening, Jacques Comby, the Vice President of International Strategy at the Université de Lyon, praised the initiative that aims to strengthen ties with the socio-economic sector. Sophie Jullian, the President of Pulsalys, then highlighted the importance of educating PhD students about technology transfer. Finally, the head of the doctoral college talked about the dynamics that this scheme represents to support PhD graduates entering employment.

The PhD students then pitched their work from the launch day for the first time. The roundtable, which followed the pitches and focused on the careers of PhD graduates who went on to set up their own companies, provided fresh impetus for the innovation projects.

The evening ended with a presentation from the organizers of the Innovation Academy.

Take a look at photos from the Innovation Academy launch evening