EIT Health RIS Academy: future innovators’ careers are skills-focused

Held in the second half of this year, EIT Health RIS Academy focuses on equipping start-uppers and innovators from emerging regions with essential skills to bring healthcare ideas to the market more effectively.

Having a great idea is a must for an entrepreneur but it is hardly enough. As healthcare challenges take the world by storm along with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, patients are calling for faster development of new diagnostic, treatment, and prevention methods. EIT Health RIS Academy, available for free for candidates coming from more progressing EU regions, is a unique online training series that builds on developing competencies in the areas identified by investors and healthcare experts as crucial for launching innovations on the market faster and more efficiently. The calendar of the courses can be found below.

• Early Health Technology Assessment Advanced Training in partnership with Semmelweis University. 27-28 September 2021. Register here.
• WE Health RIS Training in partnership with IESE Business School. 18–28 October 2021. Register here.
• EIT Health & Novartis Hackathon „Augmented/mixed reality in healthcare“. 12-14 November 2021. Register here.
• IPR Basics Training in partnership with EUIPO. Second half of November. Registration soon.

Early Health Technology Assessment Advanced Training is a unique opportunity to learn about the methodology used by investors to evaluate, in the evidence-based process, the relative effectiveness of new technology. It is a tailored-made course especially for innovators in medical devices and digital health technologies, who will focus on preparing a commercialisation plan, learning pricing and reimbursement strategies, and entering the market with new products or services. The course is run by top trainers from Semmelweis University and requires preparatory work before. The registration deadline is 12 September.

The next step of the EIT Health RIS Academy is WE Health RIS (18–28 October 2021) whose goal is to enhance the participation of women in health innovation and entrepreneurship. In this field, empowering women is particularly important: while women make up the great majority of the health workforce (70–80%), only 5% are in leadership positions. WE Health RIS supports women’s advancement through modules such as ‘First steps towards Leadership in Innovation’ or ‘Starting your Entrepreneurship Journey – your next steps to realize your business idea supports’.

What’s more, this autumn, together with Novartis Slovenia, EIT Health InnoStars will be looking for interesting ideas with the usage of augmented or mixed reality – based on Microsoft Hololens – which can support the healthcare industry, including back-office services. Participants will receive cutting edge practical training on idea incubation and design thinking. They will also have a unique opportunity to get individual mentorship from industry professionals and a chance to demonstrate their team’s idea in front of senior experts and executives of Novartis and EIT Health. The best of the bests will not only have the chance to continue the co-operation with Novartis after the event but to win prizes too (the 1^st place: €5,000, the 2^nd place: €3,000, the 3^rd place: €2,000). Deadline for the registration: 31 October.

The Academy will conclude with online training on the basics of Intellectual Property Rights. The aim of the course (which will run in the second half of November) is to explain the innovators the importance of IP and protecting their rights from an early stage. Participants will get a glimpse into the IP landscape, the different types of IP rights (trademark, design, patent, copyright) and the basics of IP strategy.