Nearly six years after its opening, the Carrefour d’entrepreneurship et d’innovation (CEI) at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières (UQTR) has reached a new stage in its mission to promote innovation. The CEI is launching a campaign to raise awareness and promote scientific entrepreneurship, accompanied by a structured path aimed at inspiring and supporting UQTR researchers, students and professionals in the transformation of their scientific ideas into entrepreneurial projects.
Thanks to major financial support from the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and the John Dobson Foundation, the CEI wishes, with this campaign, to break down the barriers between research laboratories and the business world. Available in different aspects, this initiative will take several forms in the coming months, including:
- Targeted visits : The CEI team will meet researchers and students by visiting laboratories and research chairs.
- Participation in key events : The CEI will take part in the research unit exchange table (TEUR) on scientific entrepreneurship, scheduled for February 20.
- Day dedicated to clean energy and scientific entrepreneurship : On March 21, an event will bring together experts, entrepreneurs and students around current climate and energy issues, highlighting innovations in clean energy and opportunities in green entrepreneurship.
- Multimedia supports : A series of video clips and a poster campaign, designed in collaboration with student entrepreneurs and researchers, will highlight successes in scientific entrepreneurship.
- Impulsion360 course – a springboard for scientific and technological innovation: The Impulsion360 Course, a support course designed to support scientific and technological project leaders. It offers: practical workshops to validate innovations, group mentoring and specialized coaching, privileged access to a network of investors and strategic partners and even grants to support promising projects.
“Our wish is to inspire entrepreneurial vocations among scientists. We want to integrate a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation at the heart of the UQTR campus, with particular emphasis on the scientific community,” explains Chanie Perreault, coordinator of the CEI.
“I would like to underline the importance of this initiative led by the CEI. By providing our students, our professors and our researchers with a tailor-made support program, we create an environment conducive to creativity and the realization of innovative projects. These projects, coming from our laboratories and our most brilliant minds, are a tangible demonstration of the role of the University as a driver of transformation in society,” underlines Christian Blanchette, rector of UQTR
“A founding partner of the Crossroads of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the CDPQ is proud to be associated with it again, with the aim of contributing to the development of successful business projects resulting from scientific research. With its new initiative “Parcours Impulsion360″, the CEI offers the UQTR university community and its partners support promoting the exchange of ideas and expertise, which helps accelerate the process of starting a entrepreneurial project. By renewing our partnership with the CEI, the CDPQ wishes to support a new entrepreneurial generation who, through the creation of innovative solutions, contribute to the dynamism of our economy,” says Catherine Samson, Senior Director, Business Relations, Quebec, Caisse de deposit and placement of Quebec.
-With this campaign and the Impulsion360 Course, the UQTR CEI confirms its central role in promoting scientific and technological entrepreneurship.
The CEI therefore invites researchers and students wishing to promote their scientific and technological projects to join this initiative. For more information, go to room 1212 Albert-Tessier or contact the team by email. It is also possible to visit the CEI website.
