NDRC’s Pre-Commercialisation cohort for 2018. Image: Shane O’Neill/SON Photographic
The new NDRC programme is all about connecting research innovators with the business community.
NDRC’s Dublin base will be the headquarters for its five-month Pre-Commercialisation Programme in partnership with Enterprise Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI).
14 teams of researchers from nine institutions around the country are taking part in the third iteration of the NDRC initiative.
A wide variety of participants
Participating institutions include two SFI research centres – Irish Photonic Integration Centre and Connect Centre – as well as Dublin Institute of Technology, Waterford Institute of Technology, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, University of Limerick, Maynooth University, Trinity College Dublin and Dublin City University.
The programme aims to give research teams key business skills and figure out ways to commercialise deep research, ultimately connecting academic researchers to the business, tech and entrepreneurial communities in Ireland’s buzzing start-up ecosystem.
NDRC CEO Ben Hurley spoke highly of this year’s group: “We are particularly pleased to welcome four female-led teams on this year’s cohort.
“The quality of previous participants has proven just how vibrant the research ecosystem is, and we expect it to be no different this time.
“What is of paramount importance now, is to help turn these pieces of research into viable, scalable businesses.”
Achieving ambitions
Enterprise Ireland senior commercialisation specialist Kevin Burke said: “Enterprise Ireland’s commercialisation specialists will also work closely with the participant teams and institutes to help them achieve their commercialisation ambitions.”
Scientific programme manager at SFI, Stephen O’Driscoll, emphasised SFI’s commitment to translating world-class research “from the laboratory to market”. For SFI, a key objective is increasing the number of research discoveries that secure follow-on investment from both public and private sources.
“We recognise the very important role that entrepreneurship plays in this process, and we strongly support researchers in developing entrepreneurial skills through participation in programmes such as this,” concluded O’Driscoll.
