THE CASE:

The project arose from the need to bridge the gap between academia and industry with the view to hinder the brain drain phenomenon, which takes its toll on the Greek economy, as the country is deprived of the human capital that could reverse the deepening financial recession. Within this framework, the Ministry of Education assigned us to draft a call for proposals so as to award grants to Higher Education Institutes for supporting students’ projects with commercial potential. In other words, we compiled a plan that would nurture entrepreneurial spirit among university students and expedite the commercialization of their innovative ideas and research findings. In order to cherry-pick the best ideas that could be translated into viable products, services or even enterprises, we carefully defined eligibility rules, as well as monitoring indicators, and built an evaluation mechanism with the engagement of scientists who also had vast experience in the business arena. According to our plan, apart from the financial support, final beneficiaries would utilize the universities’ facilities and equipment to develop and test their prototypes. Moreover, they would receive technical assistance during patent-granting procedures and would also benefit from training courses which foster entrepreneurial mindsets and management skills.