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2. May 2025
Although they have the potential to succeed on the market, dozens of promising scientific projects end up prematurely without systematic support and never see commercialisation. The CEITEC Innovation Accelerator programme is directly focused on the transfer and application of research into practice, and having officially started at the beginning of the year, it offers researchers a helping hand and can become a key step in the challenging journey of a product from the laboratory to the customer.
Although primary research is crucial to science and cannot be sidelined, the rapid application of results into practice is what ultimately makes research truly successful, and universities worldwide know this very well. This is also why the creation of spin-offs or start-ups is such a sought-after commodity in the academic world. CEITEC BUT has been aware of this fact for a long time and has been trying to support its scientists since 2015. Now, however, assistance has been given in a structural form with defined parameters and future prospects.
Full support and risk-free research
The newly established CEITEC Innovation Accelerator programme offers up to two years of support for selected projects in the total amount of CZK 2 million and is run in cooperation between CEITEC BUT, which offers researchers a complete technological background, finance and premises for administrative work, and JIC, which in turn provides support in the form of consultation on the business plan and other areas. “This task was undertaken by Martin Zadražil, former director of Tescan Orsay, a company well-known for developing electron microscopes. His immeasurable experience is extremely valuable and I believe that thanks to his support, the projects have a much better chance of actually succeeding on the market,” explains CEITEC BUT Bursar Jan Nedvěd right at the beginning, adding that the purpose of these consultations is mainly to find the right way to the market, or to eliminate dead ends.
Martin Zadražil is also a member of an independent expert committee that evaluates the submitted projects, and applicants can consult with him before their potential approval. They will thus receive initial feedback on the basis of which they can adjust their presentation for the application for support. Once the committee sees the potential in the project and pledges its support, a close collaboration begins, where the project is jointly fine-tuned so that the final product is competitive and finds its place in the market.
Although the call is generally open to researchers outside CEITEC, too, there are certain conditions that applicants must fulfil. The first and probably most important one is that they must be employed at CEITEC BUT during their work on the project. “We know that in order for research to be meaningful, one must devote oneself to it fully. That’s why we have set a minimum of 0.8 of full-time employment contract. This means that the applicant receives funding from us to enable him to devote himself fully to the project for a certain period of time,” says Jan Nedvěd, according to whom the researchers must limit or end their participation in other projects, and possibly suspend their studies. Once the support programme ends, they can return to all their previous engagements. Another essential condition is the option for a future percentage share for CEITEC BUT in case the project reaches the spin-off stage in the form of, for example, an LLC. “The aim of the whole Innovation Accelerator programme is to make it win-win. Scientists get the opportunity to work on the project risk-free on our premises, using our facilities, and with our knowledge support. At the same time, if they succeed in their work, the R&D findings will be applied in practice and our institute will have income from the future activities of the newly established company, which it can then invest in support of other innovation projects,” he explains the meaning of participating in the profits of the spin-offs.
When Jan Nedvěd speaks about the fact that the work within the programme is risk-free, he is referring primarily to the fact that if a project in the programme does not reach the final stage, or if it does reach the market but fails, CEITEC will not apply any sanctions. He explains that scientists are thus not pushed to produce results under the threat of pay-back, fines, or closed doors within the BUT. “They get the opportunity to test the applicability of their idea and the chance to breathe commercial life into it. But if, for example, in a few months they find that for whatever reason they can’t continue in the programme, nothing happens, their project can be terminated. The programme is funded from non-public sources, and we are happy to offer some help. But we also recognise that there is no need to reach the finish line at the cost of absolute exhaustion.” Therefore, failure in the programme is not a shame for the recipients or CEITEC, quite the opposite. If the scientist comes up with another promising idea later on, or wants to continue with the original one, they can get support again.
Targeted (not only) at unique approaches to established methods
Two projects are currently running in the CEITEC Innovation Accelerator programme. The first one is led by Jiří Ehlich, who focuses on the integration of electrical systems with biological ones. In other words, it will focus on producing versatile devices that can influence cells or tissues with the help of an electric current. “We have already had experience in creating reactors in which cells or microorganisms are cultured and fitted with electrode systems to influence the biological material inside,” he explains his previous research, adding that within the programme, his work will again involve the development and production of electrochemical systems for the field of biology.
The other supported project, that of Jiří Spousta, also builds on previous academic work. In this case, it is his master’s thesis, in which he focused on the local oxidation of vanadium layers in an electron microscope chamber. “As part of the CEITEC Innovation Accelerator programme, we would like to create an affordable method to look at sections using an electron microscope and study defects in the material through local modification,” he explains, adding that he cannot be more specific as of yet. In order for his project to be supported, Jiří Spousta had to suspend his PhD studies under the terms of the programme and is now fully committed to developing his device, which will be added as a peripheral to the microscope. “Thanks to Martin Zadražil, I have a pretty clear plan on where to move forward with this project and who to target with my solution,” says Jiří Spousta in conclusion.
Author: Kristina Blűmelová
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