Business experts - managing partners of Biztrack consulting group, Olga Gorelova and Andrey Mayer told the seminar participants about how to properly form a project team, determine goal setting, find additional resources for research, and how to present scientific results.
The listeners were both teachers and students who are the executors of the activities of the roadmap of the REC "Russian Arctic".
When analyzing the reasons for what does not work in the R&D implementation system, it was revealed that scientists who are engaged in the development and implementation of their research projects do not always focus on the request of industrial partners.
Basically, research is carried out at the expense of the budget - through a system of federal or regional grants. But the state subsidy is an additional support, not the main source of financing for the project. Today, it is also necessary to be able to attract extra-budgetary funds, this requires a constant dialogue with industrial partners.
- I'm a physiologist. She was educated at the university for five years, and in graduate school for another four years. I don't have any commercial streak," says Taisiya Shiryaeva, a participant of advanced training courses, associate professor of the Department of Human Biology and Biotechnical Systems of SAFU. We were taught to conduct research, write articles and grant applications, but we were never told how to commercialize and sell our research - to be able to "package" our product.
Regardless of the direction of research, when forming a team, not only chemists or physicists and technologists should be in demand, but also specialists with relevant marketing competencies in order to promote their scientific project.
An important component here is market analysis. For example, what will it cost to introduce a new development of innovative building material to the end user. How many resources will be needed to produce a product, whether they are in the region, what are the delivery times, if you bring from another, the cost of electricity – priority issues for the practical implementation of scientific development. It is also important to know what the customer's competitors have and what fellow scientists from another institute offer. If their proposals have already been implemented, then perhaps it is simply not worth investing in this project. Or it needs to be significantly optimized.
In market conditions, it is not enough to engage in pure science. It is necessary to know how to present the idea correctly, as well as to present the result. Presentation at the exhibition is one of the criteria for the successful implementation of a technical project. New potential partners from other regions may appear, which means funds for further development with reference to the peculiarities of another territory.
- I am grateful to the REC Directorate for organizing these courses, - Taisiya Shiryaeva said in conclusion. - We realized that there is simply no way without such knowledge now. I won't say that I became a specialist, but the algorithm of actions is now clear. I am doing research on postural balance, this is our balance and walking. We don't seem to have any direct competitors. But if you look at what is being done in the world… I believe that I will be able to pass on the knowledge I have gained to my students, with whom we will prepare applications for such contests as "Umnik". And the knowledge we have gained will help us a lot.