Abstract:

Research and innovation has been placed at the heart of the EU's strategy to promote sustainable economic growth and job creation by promoting and strengthening synergies and cooperation among businesses, education institutions and research organisations. Aligned with this strategy, CeNTI’s vision has been to inspire entrepreneurs and innovators to create solutions for the future by sharing knowledge and experiences, bringing together industrial partners, academia and innovation stakeholders. In collaboration with renowned R&D institutions such as INL – International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory and IPN - Instituto Pedro Nunes, CeNTI is involved in several entrepreneurial education activities, supporting young researchers/entrepreneurs in launching new businesses based on innovation/research on new advanced materials and cutting-edge technologies to foster local manufacturing industry ecosystem, namely in the North of Portugal, which per se supports and leverages innovation entrepreneurship in key enabling technologies. To this end, CeNTI continuously deploys and fully utilizes a wide range of dissemination and outreach activities, particularly focusing on contemporary and innovative tools that not only allow to share up-to-date information with its stakeholder community but also exchange best practices and practical knowledge with them through a learning-by-doing approach. To this end, CeNTI facilitates cross-learning meetings on entrepreneurship and provides platforms for cross-innovation community interaction to foster individual projects. Additionally, it has initiated a number of activities, notably innovation and entrepreneurship awards to leverage young research/innovation communities and innovation hubs. Some examples are the STARTUP.NANO project initiative and the FUEL-Future Entrepreneurs League project. The STARTUP.NANO project, a joint venture between INL and CeNTI, aims to stimulate entrepreneurial spirit through the implementation of entrepreneurial activities promoted by a group of stakeholders with relevant economic and technologic impact in the Northern region of Portugal. In this way, using nanotechnology and endogenous resources and advanced expertise in critical technological fields available in this region, we intend to identify, develop and create new business projects that can empower innovators and entrepreneurs to develop world-class solutions to different challenges and create growth and skilled jobs. The FUEL project aims to develop the Fuel ROOM platform that encourages entrepreneurship in activities of knowledge exchange, technology and creative industries, granting access to a vast network of national and international entities from the entrepreneurship ecosystem. With these initiatives we are committed to help developing the next generation of young entrepreneurs, encouraging and supporting companies and individuals to develop new ideas and take them to the market.

Keywords:

Entrepreneurial education, World-class innovation, Creativity, Knowledge transfer.