A new offer to strengthen transfer, the “Future Innovators – A Helmholtz Transfer Academy”

Integrate Ideas for Transfer into Everyday Research

Both DLR and DESY belong to the Helmholtz Association, which promotes the Future Innovators. The Helmholtz Association brings together major non-university research institutions in Germany. DLR and DESY already invest heavily in technology transfer. They are now setting up the Transfer Academy under the consortium leadership of DLR as an offer for all Helmholtz Centers and Institutes. The Academy's multi-stage program is located in a very early phase of a transfer process. The academy is intended both to awaken motivation for the topic of entrepreneurship and innovation and to train knowledge about entrepreneurial thinking.

"The Academy specifically supports those researchers who want to engage with their science in terms of market potential and business models. Because they - inventors - are the key to successful technology transfer from research to industry," says Karsten Lemmer, DLR Executive Board member responsible for Innovation, Transfer and Scientific Infrastructures.

Arik Willner, Chief Technology Officer at DESY, adds: "Future Innovators strengthens the transfer activities of all Helmholtz Centres, innovation potentials are identified and raised at an early stage. In particular, the interdisciplinarity across all research fields distinguishes the approach of this programme."

The programme is primarily aimed at young researchers at the Helmholtz Centres who want to develop transfer ideas for their scientific topics. Initially, the focus is on entrepreneurial skills and self-analysis. In interdisciplinary teams, the participants gain experience in developing ideas and concepts for their implementation. Finally, in a third phase, they work out concrete transfer possibilities from their own research.
"Through the inspiration and qualification, the interest in innovation and transfer should be awakened and an entrepreneurial mindset established in research. The practical experience of innovation methods and the early networking of teams and start-up experts are very central to this," says Verena Wagner, Head of Start-ups at DLR Technology Transfer. "In this way, ideas with potential can be recognised in everyday scientific life and developed accordingly."
The first round of the Academy will start in autumn 2023 and is primarily aimed at doctoral students and post-docs from the individual research centres as well as institutes of the Helmholtz Association. Each round of the Academy is designed to run for one year, and attendance at all courses is not mandatory. Applications will be possible from July 2023.