Pathways to Impact
Doctoral Programme for entrepreneurial PhD students!
Course information
- Applications
-
Open until the 13th of October 2024Â
Application period has endedÂ
- Programme Duration
-
Programme duration: 21st October – 2nd December Â
About : For PhD students
Pathways to Impact of EIT Food is for Talented PhD students from across Europe and globally.
This programme will provide an introduction and starting tools on how to change the world by using your PhD research. Join us, if you are motivated to:
- Bring entrepreneurial skills into your work & boost your future career
- Learn how to change the world using your research
- Get an introduction to technology commercialisation
- Dive into EIT Food network of leading academic & industry partners
Upon successful completion of the course, you will be able to
- recognize the role of technology in our society and the food system and learn how innovations can contribute to achieving social impact
- Identify sustainable challenges for the food system and understand the impact of the own research on the environment.Â
- recognize the importance of IPR management
- to formulate and articulate their entrepreneurial competencies
- to formulate the key elements of their PhD and apprise the impact on the society of their research. Â
- adjust messaging for different audience and devise effective communication methods
Career Opportunities : Improve your employability
The entrepreneurial skills you will gain will improve your employability, benefit your research funding or help you get inspired in creating a spin-out from your PhD research. As this course will teach you how to take a complex research concept, like your PhD, and formulate it into clear value propositions that can be used in your grant applications, for potential investors, and in the engagement with any other stakeholders.
What you'll learn : This programme is for you!
Entrepreneurship
- Create opportunities for social and environmental value creation.
- Mobilise resources to create sustainable value for others.
- Design and implement effective actions to deliver impact.
Problem solving
- Appraise the problem space to identify current and future needs.
- Mobilise effective methodologies to generate new ideas.
- Appraise the validity of new ideas and co-create sustainable solutions.
Critical thinking
- Collect, analyse, interpret and report information to develop sustainable solutions to current and future challenges.
- Appraise unintended consequences of any course of action to devise ethical goals.
Communication
- Identify, engage with and respond honestly to stakeholder needs.
- Develop strategies to deliver effective inclusive communications approaches.
- Translate complex ideas for different audiences.
Food systems
- Analyse the food system using a range of systems approaches to appraise current and future sustainability challenges.
- Implement innovative responses to address sustainability challenges in the food system.
Structure & Modules : Work with top-notch trainers and mentors!
Our online entrepreneurship learning is fully interactive and enables you to engage with our top-notch trainers and mentors. Pathways to Impact will not only give you access to our excellent resources, food experts, pitch trainer and coaches, but will also allow you to become part of the inspiring EIT Food community.
Next to our online interactive workshops and one-on-one sessions, the asynchronous training allows for a great flexibility and the comfort to learn at times and from locations that suit you and from your own home or workplace.
PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
This course will provide an introduction and starting tools on how to change the world by using your PhD research.
You will be trained by top EIT Food partners coming from higher education institutions like University of Turin, Technical University of Munich, Aarhus University, Queens University of Belfast, Swiss Food Research and other collaborators, whose expertise lies in entrepreneurship, innovation, and commercialisation of academic research.
Throughout the course, we will focus on following key topics:
- Sharp messaging & Communication Training for your research (3 stages)
- Entrepreneurial competencies
- Research Canvas & Research Impact CanvasÂ
- Impact of your Research within the societyÂ
- Value creation & IP Protection
- Ecosystem and (Business) Ecosystem Strategy
- Successful collaborations
Additionally, you will be offered a unique mentoring experience by EIT Food PTI who will support you with your research impact creation, and offer additional networking opportunities within their ecosystem.
The course concludes with a final event at which the students present their research using the within the course learned communications skills and will have the chance to win a prize (Free access to a relevant conference).Â
Throughout the course we will focus on following KEY TOPICS:
Pathways to Impact, Ideation, Entrepreneurs Cases, Market scoping, Problem/Solution fit, Commercialization of Innovation, IP protection, Research Impact CANVAS, Business Model CANVAS, Funding for researchers, Evaluating & Communicating your impact, Practice pitching & appreciate feedback. Additionally, you will be offered a unique mentoring experience by EIT Food partners, who will support you with your research impact creation.
IN A NUTSHELL:
- You will have access to five (5) Asynchronous Modules with small assignments on the EIT Food
- education learning platform CANVAS.
- You will receive one-on-one mentoring over 5 weeks, from partners that have vast experience in
- supporting PhDs acquiring entrepreneurial skills.
- You will participate in a series of synchronous workshops so that you do not feel alone in your
- journey.
- You will have the experience of pitching your PhD towards the end of the course in front of an
- expert panel and receive feedback from judges and peers.
Practical : What you need to know
Participation fee
- Small participation fee: €120
All prices are including applicable taxes (21% VAT).
A small portion of the total cost of the training will be charged as a participation fee. There are discount options for PhD groups. Please, contact mariana.fazenda@eitfood.eu.
Applications clearly made solely using AI text generation and un-proof read will not be accepted and rejected.
Whitney - Winner Final Pitch Competition : Testimonials Winners Final Pitch Competition
``I really enjoyed the Pathways to Impact course; it gave me practical skills to make my research more meaningful beyond academia. The interactive sessions with Dafna were engaging and helped me think differently about how to communicate my work. I also found the group presentations valuable, as the feedback from my colleagues gave me a fresh perspective on how to adapt my message for different audiences.Â
One of the biggest takeaways for me was the Research Canvas and Research Impact Canvas, which helped me summarize my research in a clear and structured way without losing important details. The course content was precise and well-structured, making it easy to follow, and I appreciated how the online sessions were evenly spaced, allowing time to absorb and apply what I had learnt. My mentor, Sarah, was also incredibly supportive, offering great advice throughout the course.Â
Overall, this course has given me the confidence to communicate my research more effectively and think about its real-world impact. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to strengthen their communication skills and learn to present their research with impact:``
Andrea Fachin - Winner Final Pitch Competition :
"The Pathways to Impact course really helped me see how my research can make a difference in addressing global challenges and how it can be applied outside of academia. It gave me a clearer understanding of how my work on sustainable packaging and food waste can contribute to environmental sustainability and the circular economy.
Through the program, I gained a lot of confidence in my science communication skills. I learned how to present my research in a simpler, more engaging way, making complex ideas easier to explain to different audiences, from researchers to investors. I now feel much more prepared to communicate with various stakeholders. I’m confident that this program helped me figure out how to turn my PhD research into something that can have a real impact. I learned how to identify and connect with the right people to take my project beyond the lab.
The program also gave me valuable entrepreneurial skills, like project management and strategic thinking, that will help me in my career, whether as a researcher or as someone looking to create a spin-out. Overall, Pathways to Impact has given me the confidence and tools to make a real difference with my research, and I know these skills will be crucial in my future career."
Edwin Jun Kiat Ong- Winner Final Pitch Competition :
``I am thrilled to have won the final evaluation of the EIT Food Pathways to Impact 2024 program! This global course has been a transformative experience, empowering me as a PhD student to drive real-world impact through my research. The program’s unique structure, supported by leading institutions like the University of Turin, Technical University of Munich, Aarhus University, Queen’s University Belfast, and Swiss Food Research, provided an unparalleled learning environment.
Over the six weeks, I gained invaluable entrepreneurial skills, delved into the intricacies of Intellectual Property Rights and technology commercialization, and learned how to effectively communicate the impact of my research. The opportunity to present my work to a panel of experts and emerge as a winner was both an honour and a testament to the program’s ability to foster innovation and excellence.
What I valued most was the collaborative spirit of the program—engaging with mentors, peers, and industry leaders who shared a common goal of creating sustainable solutions for the future. The hands-on approach and real-world applications of the curriculum have equipped me with the tools to translate my research into meaningful impact.
A heartfelt thank you to EIT Food, the mentors, and my fellow participants for making this journey so inspiring and rewarding. I am excited to continue this momentum and look forward to participating in the EFFoST International Conference 2025 in Porto, Portugal."
Programme Lead :
Mariana Fazenda
Programme Manager Education
mariana.fazenda@eitfood.euRelated courses
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