The launch of a new industrial PhD programme at EPFL

Project Information

EPFLinnovators

Grant agreement ID: 754354

DOI

10.3030/754354

Project closed

EC signature date 28 April 2017

Start date 1 October 2017

End date 31 March 2024

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 7 534 080,00

EU contribution

€ 3 767 040,00

Coordinated by

ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE
Switzerland

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - EPFLinnovators (The launch of a new industrial PhD programme at EPFL)

Reporting period: 2021-10-01 to 2024-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The EPFLinnovators MSCA COFUND programme provided PhD students at EPFL with the training, experience and skills needed to become tomorrow’s entrepreneurs. This industry-oriented PhD programme received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 754354. The programme was implemented by EPFL during the period 2017 – 2024. EPFL (www.epfl.ch) is one of Europe’s most cosmopolitan technical universities and focuses on three missions: teaching, research and innovation.

Specifically, EPFLinnovators was intended to (i) increase the awareness of PhD students – from the very beginning of their PhD studies - of the possibility of initiating a start-up, (ii) increase the number of PhD candidates who create a start-up and become entrepreneurs/innovators, and (iii) increase the success of their start-ups once these have been created.

When it was launched, EPFLinnovators thus introduced a new type of PhD at EPFL with a strong focus on entrepreneurship and on finding practical and innovative solutions to address societal challenges in a number of areas (e.g. engineering, basic research, life sciences) related to one of EPFL’s 22 doctoral programmes (https://www.epfl.ch/education/phd/programs/). It aimed to prepare doctoral students for a range of career options, including in the non-academic sector and start-up creation.

EPFLinnovators successfully attracted to EPFL highly-talented, excellent PhD candidates of any nationality with an interest in entrepreneurship. 38 excellent PhD candidates were selected over 3 calls. The EPFLinnovators programme offered selected PhD candidates the appropriate training, experience, and guidance to successfully start and develop their own company. To develop the innovation potential of PhD candidates, a rich and comprehensive training programme was offered in combination with a secondment (6-24 months) in the non-academic sector.

Fellows were thus equipped with a broad set of scientific, transferable, and business skills so that they could become true innovators. The organisation of dedicated training and networking activities (including 15 dedicated workshops/training and 6 networking events) helped to foster a community and network of EPFLinnovators fellows and enabled to create a link with other MSCA COFUND programmes at EPFL (e.g. EPFLglobaLeaders, EPFL Leaders4Impact). In addition, fellows could attend the many wider events and opportunities offered by EPFL in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship including that of the EPFL Innovation Park. They could also benefit from more career developed oriented events such as the annual EPFL Forum (https://www.forum-epfl.ch/) which is one of Europe’s largest recruitment fairs.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

A global dissemination of the programme and its 3 calls was conducted with a view to attracting top-talent from all over the world. A total of 1840 applications were received over the 3 calls, which speaks for the attractivity of the EPFLinnovators programme considering that EPFL receives around 4000 PhD applications per year.

Following a fair, equitable and transparent evaluation and selection process, 38 EPFLinnovators fellows started the fellowship in total and, as of March 2024, 32 fellows have reached the end of their PhD studies. Out of these 32 fellows, 21 (66%) have already graduated while the remaining 11 fellows have their PhD defence planned in 2024. The list of EPFLinnovators fellows having graduated (or to graduate soon) with their research projects can be found on the programme's website: https://www.epfl.ch/education/phd/doctoral-studies-structure/customized-curricula/EPFLinnovators/selected-fellows/.

In terms of wider dissemination and exploitation of the results that EPFLinnovators realised, these were widely promoted through different channels, including the EPFL Research Office’s social media. Fellows also attended outreach activities, including the My Thesis in 180 seconds course which was an integral component of the training programme and where each participant had three minutes to present their research, in plain language, to a non-specialist audience.

On another note, the work undertaken by EPFLinnovators fellows within the framework of the programme has led (as of March 2024) to: more than 60 peer-reviewed open access publications (incl. conference proceedings); 6 patents applications; participation by fellows in 55 conferences (including poster presentations); participation in 22 workshops and in 45 other events (including talks) and 4 awards. Furthermore, 11 EPFLinnovators fellows took part in a communication campaign entitled “Meet our fellows!” to introduce themselves and talk about their research project in a way that is accessible to the general public. All the videos can be found on the website : https://www.epfl.ch/education/phd/doctoral-studies-structure/customized-curricula/EPFLinnovators/meet-our-fellows/.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

EPFLinnovators fellows were initially awarded co-funding towards a max. 48-month fellowship. In addition, upon request, fellows could apply – in agreement with their supervisor – for up to a 3-month extension of the fellowship to allow further time to finish the research project and their PhD, also taking into account the impact of the COVID pandemic during the period 2020-2021. 25 fellows submitted a request and were successfully granted an extension of up to 3 months. This meant that a total of just under 1710 fellow-months were completed within EPFLinnovators, equivalent to around 99% of the target fellow-months in the Grant Agreement.

Moreover, EPFLinnovators fellows developed a strong sense of belonging, also thanks to a range of dedicated events/trainings as well as undertook a secondment in the non-academic sector, which helped to bridge the gap between research and industry. The researchers were thus trained in an academic as well as non-academic setting and acquired a range of scientific, transferable and business skills with the ultimate aim of paving the way for a career as true innovators.

The research projects carried out by EPFLinnovators fellows during their fellowship and PhDs aimed to address wider societal needs while finding scientific and technological solutions. A dedicated page on the EPFLinnovators website (https://www.epfl.ch/education/phd/doctoral-studies-structure/customized-curricula/EPFLinnovators/selected-fellows/) provides an overview of the research projects undertaken and illustrates the diverse range of fields covered, including – as an example - waste management system design, smart analysis systems for exercise and training, collision resilient drones for long-range operations, personalized detection and prediction of epileptic seizures with wearables as well as sensing/control strategy for optimal air quality. Therefore, the results that emerged during these research projects can have a societal impact in a range of areas, including – among other - in medicine, engineering and sports.

The 21 fellows who already completed their PhD, have gone to continue a career in innovation either in the academic sector (including EPFL) or industry. The remaining 11 fellows are due to finish their PhD in 2024. On a final note, three fellows have already created a start-up and two of the case studies are featured on the website: https://actu.epfl.ch/news/EPFLinnovators-maria-sivers/ and https://actu.epfl.ch/news/EPFLinnovators-arnout-devos/.

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