BRIDGE THE GAP YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS BETWEEN EAST AND WEST

Self-assessment as part of the project

„BRIDGE THE GAP - YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS BETWEEN EAST AND WEST“

Data of the institution: University XY / Foundation Center XY /Contact persons and their contact details

Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin

Anna Kanadys, Intellectual Property Specialist at the Centre for Knowledge and Technology Transfer,

anna.kanadys@umcs.pl.

Piotr Wetoszka, research assistant at the Faculty of Economics, piotr.wetoszka@umcs.pl.

1 Brief description of the facility - please write in keywords -especially in terms of objectives, structures and activities in the field of start-up support

Keywords: Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (UMCS); Lublin; university;

career office, business incubator; start-up support; Academic Business Incubator;

University Career Office.

2 What special competence profiles does the institution have in the area of high technologies / STEM area?

To provide its students with modern teaching/learning facilities and its academics

with a research base in the areas of priority importance for the economy, UMCS

obtained almost PLN 500 million from external sources, including the following

Operational Programmes: Development of Eastern Poland, Innovative Economy,

Infrastructure and Environment, Regional Operational Programme for Lublin

Province, National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management,

and subsidies from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education for a large

research infrastructure.

The largest investment is the Ecotech-Complex project: Man, Environment,

Production valued at ca. PLN 145 million (financed from the Operational

Programme Innovative Economy), involving construction of an innovative

programming and analytical centre for technologically advanced research,

implemented by the consortium consisting of universities and research

institutions from the Podkarpackie and Lublin provinces. This research giant is

equipped inter alia with a magnetic resonance apparatus and has dozens of

laboratories with most advanced equipment and best scientists from Lublin and

Rzeszów.

The Ecotech-Complex research offer includes: BIOL-MED (tissue engineering

and hybrid structures, brain examinations, human development and ageing,

cancer-related, civilization-related and social diseases); AGRO (plant and

landscape protection, agrobiotechnology, non-food use of agricultural products);

ECO (ecology, climatic changes, environmental pollution, biodiversity, water, air

and soil protection, and alternative energy sources) and FOOD (food security and

quality, environmental impact on food chains, food and health, functional and

ecological food).

Worth noting are also imposing modern teaching and research facilities: the Earth

Science and Spatial Management Faculty building and the Institute of Computer

Science building (both funded by the Operational Programme Development of

Eastern Poland with a total value of over PLN 60 million). The Academic

Culture Center “Chatka Żaka” also acquired a new image: for PLN 20 million the

Media-Arts Incubator with modern radio/TV equipment was created there.

Enormous subsidies from EU funds were allocated to the three experimental

Faculties: Biology and Biotechnology, Chemistry, and Mathematics, Physics and

Computer Science, where the existing buildings were thoroughly modernized and

the laboratories received specialist research equipment through the provincial

funds for infrastructure in higher education institutions and the national funds for

supporting innovation. The Faculty of Chemistry obtained the Centre for

Functional Nanomaterials, and the Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology

participates in the consortium of the National Multidisciplinary Laboratory of

Functional Nanomaterials. Subsidies under the Programme Infrastructure and

Environment will enable the purchase of advanced testing and measuring

equipment for nanotechnology, and the creation of a high-performance research

centre. All these measures and funds will make it possible to offer new study

programmes and specializations crucial for the economy in exact and natural

sciences. An example of such positive cooperation based on the new facilities is

the Geoinformatics study programme co-created by the Faculty of Earth Sciences

and Spatial Management and the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Computer

Science. The Faculties of Chemistry and Mathematics, Physics and Computer

Science are planning to soon offer a unique study programme in materials

physicochemistry.

UMCS follows technological progress and the development of information

society. The University is currently undergoing extensive informatization and

participates in a partnership project with the City of Lublin and libraries in order

to create the Lublin Virtual Library: these undertakings are possible owing to

financial support from the Regional Operational Plan. UMCS has also joined the

science service platform as part of the nation-wide project PLATON, which

enables the University to use innovative services (video conferences, scientific

interactive HD TV, data archiving, and eduroam).

In subsequent years, UMCS plans to revitalize the campus, in particular the park,

green squares, and recreational and sports facilities. The University plans to take

special care of its historic buildings in Lublin’s city centre and of the Kościuszko

Family Manor House in the Botanical Garden. Currently, the University has also

commenced the process of the so-called green investment, in which the

University buildings will be gradually thermomodernized.

Academic Business Incubator serves students and graduates as information

source and system of internships and support in the process of company

formation. Incubator delivers practical knowledge which is useful when starting

your own business. Projects initiated by the Incubator are designed to encourage

young people to develop an active and enterprising attitude. This institution aims

to supplement theoretical knowledge gained at university with practical

knowledge. It helps young people find their position on the labour market.

University Career Office is an advisory centre, responsible for training and

vocational information and the professional development of students and

graduates of the University of Maria Curie-Skłodowska. The Office helps in

choosing the directions of education, in making decisions, shaping the skills

needed to enter the labour market and helping to use knowledge gained at the

university in professional situations.

Main activities of the Office of Career UMTS are:

professional and psychological counselling,

trainings and workshops in social and professional competences,

individual and team coaching,

providing jobs, internships and volunteering,

organizing meetings with employers and company presentations at the

University,

recruitment projects,

monitoring the situation of professional and public opinion research employers,

collecting and sharing publications in the field of labour market research,

co-operation with institutions and organizations on the labour market,

activities designed for alumni.

Regional labour office, Lublin City Office.

3 Experience profile: Which numbers / facts / activities can be highlighted as a success of your organization in the field of start-up support, for example, the number of start-ups per year?

In 2015, Bioinnova sp o.o start up in the field of biotechnology was founded. The

company is active on the biotechnology and pharmaceutical market. Bioinnova

plans to launch the first batch of dental products based on mutanase - an

invention created at UMCS.

4 How many start-ups / start-up ideas and in which high technology area could participate in the international network?

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5 What kind of contacts does your institution have with the start-up scene in your region?

UMCS participates in the European Commission Lifelong Learning

Programme/Erasmus. Students can spend part of their study programme at

European partner universities and go abroad for professional training stays, and

UMCS teachers can lecture and take part in training courses. Every year, almost

200 UMCS students and over 50 academics take advantage of the Erasmus

programme, in which UMCS has over 200 partners. These stays significantly

influence the internationalization of educational processes and enhance the

European dimension in carrying out UMCS strategies. Highly popular among

UMCS academic personnel are academic mobility programmes - Tempus.

Owing to these programmes the University started cooperation with 101 partners,

inter alia from Israel, Cyprus, Estonia, Portugal, Italy, USA, Mexico, Iceland, and

with selected Eastern Partnership countries.

European Social Found Programmes (examples):

- UMCS for labour market and economy knowledge based economy - The

project implemented in cooperation with nearly 600 employers involved more

than 3,000 students. As part of the project many classes, internships, workshops

and study tours have been implemented. Our activities include:

extending the educational offer of the Faculty of Humanities by introducing 16

new specialties,

introducing a new specialty at the Department of Earth Sciences and Spatial

Planning: Cartography and Geoinformation,

introducing a new degree course at the Faculty of Political Science: East

European Studies,

deepening cooperation between the University and potential employers in

order to strengthen the practical elements of teaching, increase employers’

involvement in the educational process and curriculum development,

helping students and graduates to develop practical skills in the field of new

technologies and develop the ability to communicate effectively and work in a

team during internships for graduates,

helping students to develop the ability to plan their own careers and effectively

search for jobs,

matching the competences of graduates with the needs of employers through

the implementation of USGDoP – a university system to collect data from

employers on the level of match between the competencies of graduates and

the labour markets’ demands,

expansion of education and improving the quality of education through the use

of modern technology in education (remote teaching, multimedia),

supporting graduates through innovative work of the Office of Career

including the launch of the "PRO Graduate".

SYNERGY - shaping the competence of students of the Faculty of

Economics UMCS by acquiring practical knowledge:

strengthening the practical elements of teaching through the adoption and

pursuit by the Faculty of Economics UMCS of cooperation with enterprises

and institutions,

organizing work experience and internships for students,

the implementation of practical projects by students in enterprises and

institutions under the patronage of academics,

raising the level of knowledge of mathematics among students of the first

year of full-time undergraduate degrees at the Faculty of Economics UMCS by

conducting courses (interpersonal training, courses in setting up and running a

business) to better prepare graduates to enter the labour market,

facilitating the contact of students at the Faculty of Economics with

potential employers by organizing workshops and panel meetings with

representatives of companies and institutions,

implementation of a system for collecting information on the level of

competencies of graduates in order to adapt curricula to the needs of the labour

market.

6 Are there any contacts to German start-ups?

7 Are there any contacts to the international start-up scene?

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What contacts exist with business and industry partners locally?

University cooperates with many institutions, local governments and enterprises,

as well as with foreign partners from the EU and Ukraine, and recently also from

China. Our efforts to align the education to job market needs have found

recognition expressed by multiple awards and honours, such us: “Uczelnia

Liderów” (School of Leaders), “Aurea Praxis”, “Dobra Uczelnia – dobra praca”

(Good University – Good Job). UMCS is also the winner of the “Najbardziej

innowacyjna i kreatywna Uczelnia w Polsce w tworzeniu perspektyw

zawodowych” (The most innovative and creative university in Poland in creating

good employment perspectives) competition. Multiple times, we have co-

organized important events in the life of the city and the region, just to mention

“Dni Lubelskiej Wyżyny IT” (Days of the Lublin IT Upland).

The University is open to cooperation with the external environment in the area

of research and project development and wants to provide expert knowledge and

research findings to businesses and government institutions. The unique

equipment and experience of the technical and research personnel allow the

University to conduct commissioned studies in various fields. Each year UMCS

sings new contracts for research work commissioned by external entities and

carries out several hundred projects.

The UMCS offer in the area of cooperation with external entities comprises over

500 kinds of services such as basic research, implementation, expert opinions,

laboratory analyses, measuring and research equipment, teaching, training, and

postgraduate study programmes.

Currently, work is underway to create a bilingual module of Expert Base –

UMCS academic staff who have demonstrated significant achievements in their

field. The purpose of the base is to facilitate information flow in scientific

research and build contacts with representatives of businesses looking for

contractors to execute commissioned projects and partners to conduct joint

research.

To promote its offer, UMCS participates in fairs and conferences, organizes

meetings with representatives of entrepreneur organizations, and directly contacts

the interested businesses. The university is a member of the Lublin EcoEnergy

Cluster and the Eastern Cluster ICT. A number of research and development

cooperation contracts have recently been signed with some of the largest Polish

companies and employer associations. 9. In which areas of

cooperation in the network does the organization want to actively participate?

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