OPINNO

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The OPINNO project aims to integrate the biotech industry in the Life Sciences university education. The goal of the project is to stimulate entrepreneurship at the university as well as to improve the interaction between university education and industry.

Background information

It is important for students to discover and further develop their entrepreneurial skills. Valorisation of their own research is an important driver to stimulate entrepreneurship.

The OPINNO project - supported by ‘Het Agentschap Ondernemen’ and ‘Vlaanderen in Actie pact 2020’ - is coordinated by FlandersBio and has four university partners: Ghent University, KU Leuven, the University of Antwerp and Hasselt University.

The OPINNO project wants to bridge the gap between the Life Sciences university education and the industry. Via an open integration between students and science entrepreneurs, FlandersBio and its 4 university partners believe that a healthy entrepreneurial climate will be stimulated.

Concrete initiatives of the project

1. Guest lectures at the universities

Existing entrepreneurial initiatives at the different universities will be complemented by guest lectures of entrepreneurs active in the field of science. To accomplish this, an ‘add-on teaching module’ will be developed within this project.

Module 1 - Get to know the industrial biotech landscape and the ‘industrial way of thinking’ - took place on 09/11/2011 in Leuven.
Module 2 - The importance of innovation and entrepreneurship in the biotech sector - will take place on 07/03/2012 in Antwerp. More information
Module 3 - Listen to young Biotech entrepreneurs - will take place on 24/05/2012 during the convention 'Knowledge for Growth' in Ghent.

2. Internships in a company

Master students should be stimulated to perform their internship in a company. The OPINNO project will contribute to this by actively creating internships (both short term and internships as part of a master thesis), and by making companies more easily accessible for students. The open internships are available on the FlandersBio website.

3. Social network

The project aims to build a social network amongst entrepreneurs (CEO/management) and master students active in the field of Life Sciences. Initiatives as company visits, student discussions, informal conversations (Biobizz café), mentorships and social media (LinkedIn/Facebook) will add greatly to that.