Welcome to

Mind The Gap

Linking Academic Research with Entrepreneurial Success

Europe produces world-class research but struggles to transform it into successful startups and market-ready innovation.

The “Mind the Gap” aims to bridge the divide between academic research and market-ready innovations by developing a scalable framework that supports PhD, Master’s students, and early researchers. The initiative focuses on equipping young researchers with entrepreneurial skills and fostering a culture of innovation within academia.

Mind the Gap — From Research to Societal Impact

From Research to Societal Impact

How Mind the Gap transforms academic knowledge into entrepreneurial success.

Research

Academic knowledge
& discovery

Innovation

Co-creation &
entrepreneurship

Startup

Ventures born
from research

Scaleup

Acceleration &
market access

Societal Impact

Sustainability &
competitiveness

Universities

Students & Researchers

Business Mentors

Accelerators

Investors

Policy Makers

NGOs & Society

Methodology

For universities to become centres of local innovation-producing ecosystems, the project follows the 4Cs Framework focusing on building Competence, Capacity, Collaboration and Culture at each institution.

Collaboration

Vibrant, collaborative, and successful entrepreneurial ecosystems require nurturing relationships with different stakeholders. Hence, the “Mid the Gap”, will strengthen and expand on already established connections, while supporting the quadruple-helix concept: connecting academia, businesses, policy makers and society.

Culture

By launching cutting-edge entrepreneurship courses, unifying venture-support activities, and engaging university leadership, “Mind the Gap” aims to drive lasting cultural transformation within the three ecosystems.

Capacity

The project will establish internal venture-support mechanisms at HEIs, including internal incubation, industry connections and inspirational events for students, researchers, and professionals at each institution.

Competence

Thanks to in-depth engagement with business partners, university staff will acquire the knowledge and skills to be able to co-design and deliver the new entrepreneurship courses.