Science and Business Lead a Dialogue for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the UNWE

Meet Science with Business Café was held at the UNWE, organized by the Hub for Scientific Entrepreneurship in Bulgaria /SciEntBG Hub/ under the ERA TALENT Programme within the framework of the European EURAXESS Network. The co-organizer of the event was the Institute of Entrepreneurship of UNWE.

The forum was opened by the Director of the Institute Assoc. Prof. Kostadin Kolarov, moderator of the event, who presented the objectives of the initiative and the vision for the development of partnerships between the science and the business.

Ms. Svetlana Dimitrova, Coordinator of EURAXESS Bulgaria, presented the opportunities for career development of young scientists within the framework of the European EURAXESS Network and the upcoming initiatives of the ERA TALENT Programme.

Dr. Dmytro Zherlitsyn, Coordinator of the Hub for Scientific Entrepreneurship, presented the project of the mentoring programme for scientific entrepreneurship.

Prof. Dr. Kamelia Stefanova delivered a presentation dedicated to the possibilities of using supercomputers and related innovations in various fields of science and business. She focused on modern trends in computing technologies and the potential of Bulgarian scientific and industrial circles to join European projects related to high-performance computing and artificial intelligence.

During the meeting representatives of various scientific institutes, universities and businesses presented their projects and shared their experiences. Among the participants were entrepreneurs, Doctoral students and researchers not only from the UNWE but also from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences: Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering and the Institute for Population and Human Research as well as from the Medical University – Pleven and St. Ivan Rilsky University of Mining and Geology. The event was attended by Mr. Blagoy Popgeorgiev, Chairman of Artin Nigokhosyan Foundation, and Mr. Konstantin Serafimov, Chairman of the Defense Industry Club. The participants presented their ideas and experience of implementing them in the fields of medical technologies, cybersecurity and the development of artificial intelligence applications.

The discussion part addressed practical issues related to the transfer of technologies from academia to industry, the formation of start-ups, the protection of intellectual property, attracting investments and the building of a sustainable ecosystem for scientific entrepreneurship in Bulgaria.

The event emphasized the necessity of active dialogue between the science and the business as well as the importance of mentoring programmes and network cooperation to accelerate the process of implementing the scientific results in the economy.