“It’s interesting to consider how to hold ourselves accountable to the taxpayers that ultimately fund scientific research.”
Early-career researchers from two Centres of Excellence gathered in Queensland this month, learning how to better translate their scientific discoveries to make an impact.
The focus of Idea Factory 2022 was expanded to develop a wider understanding of research translation, the translation/commercialisation ecosystem, and learning to consider the impact of your research beyond the confines of academia.
Skills developed will also be useful for participants applying for funding in either the EQUS or FLEET research translation programs.
“The program got me thinking about end-user needs.”
Almost 30 participants from EQUS and FLEET learnt about how important it was to be solving a problem that was actually important for stakeholders and end-users, rather than a problem that you think they might have, and how the solution needed to have massive (rather than incremental) impact.
The workshop included elevator (‘Gaddie’) pitches and testing assumptions with stakeholder interviews. Participants were asked to get in touch with potential stakeholders during the workshop, and finished on the last day with the presentation of their own compelling impact story.
“The program helped me to look at my own research project from a different perspective, and helped me realise that my research can have an impact outside of the realm of scientific journals and academia. I’m motivated to search for more information towards this: I’ve created a folder on my desktop with some industry/application-driven papers that can be really useful for my research.”
Across the workshop there were plenty of opportunities to network with other participants, including at the ten-pin bowling plus pizza feast on the first night, followed by the extravagant Thai feast at the workshop dinner.
100% of respondents were satisfied with the program
“Networking with other the other workshop participants was both fun and useful… talking about my research to an audience with a different level of knowledge in my area.”
The participants all appeared to enjoy the workshop with many expressing their opinion that it opened their eyes to how their research and skills could make a difference in the world beyond universities. Several were inspired to start preparing applications for the Centre research translation programs. We look forward to seeing the results over the next few months.
Also see FLEET PhD candidate Maedehsadat Mousavi’s report from the Sunrise innovation festival, building on her experiences at Idea Factory. “Previously, I would have never considered starting my own company or launching a start-up, but now I can see myself considering how being an entrepreneur may have an influence on the world.”
87% are now confident to initiate conversations and engagements with industry stakeholders.
The program was facilitated by Jonathan Lacey and Emily Chang from Cruxes Innovation.
The Idea Factory has evolved from its original role assisting EQUS ECRs in writing strong research proposals, becoming an ongoing collaboration between FLEET and EQUS that focuses on new skills each iteration, as well as building ECRs’ networks.
Previous iterations of the workshop have included grant applications and communication (2021), entrepreneurship and research translation (2019), and pitching and presentation (2018).
“After cancelling the workshop in 2020, and a hybrid version in 2021, it was great to gather together in person again, in Caloundra,” says FLEET/EQUS Chief Investigator Matt Davis, who has coordinated the ongoing education collaboration between the two Centres.
100% are now confident in communicating the value of their research to a non-technical/ ‘outside’ audience.