BSR Deeptech Launch Survey of Pre-incubation Needs of Students and Young Researchers: A Cummulative Analysis

BSR Deeptech Launch Survey of Pre-incubation Needs of Students and Young Researchers: A Cummulative Analysis

The 1st Online Survey was conducted to better understand the needs of students and young researchers who want to become deeptech entrepreneurs in order to prepare a comprehensive toolbox for assessing the measures and instruments to boost the careers of next-generation tech startup founders. The survey gathered responses from students and researchers across various fields of study and levels of education in Germany (Berlin-Brandenburg), Poland (Mazovia region), Lithuania (mostly, from the Capital region, Vilnius).

The Survey collected responses to understand the pre-incubation needs of students and young researchers interested in entrepreneurship, especially in the deep tech space. The respondents were from Poland, Lithuania and Germany, with most being at the Bachelor’s, Master’s or Doctoral level of education in fields like natural sciences, engineering, and ICT.

Participation in Entrepreneurship Activities:

• The most common entrepreneurship activities participated in were lectures related to entrepreneurship (62%), followed by student organizations (28%) and university technology transfer centers (27%).
• Around 20% said they have not participated in any such activities. The top reasons cited were lack of knowledge about the events (53%) and the events not being useful/interesting to them (47%).

Sources of Entrepreneurship Information:

• The top sources of information were lecturers related to entrepreneurship (61%), followed by job fairs (39%), university tech transfer centers (28%) and student organizations (27%).
• Over 10% also mentioned the internet as an information source.

Interest in Entrepreneurship Events:

• The events that generated the most interest were: 1) Entrepreneurs sharing failure/success stories and inspirational talks (50%), 2) Discussing how to turn passion into business (39%), 3) Turning scientific solutions into businesses/deep tech (36%)
• Around 30% said they have not participated in such events, with the top reasons being lack of knowledge (40%) and the events not being useful/interesting (37%).

Interest in Business Idea Development Activities:

• The top activities of interest were: 1) Generating business ideas through mentoring (44%), 2) Analysis and validation of business ideas through expert consultation (44%), 3) Analyzing scientific and business trends through mentoring (41%)
• Other activities with good interest (30-40%) were researching market potential, presentation of business ideas, patents and legal issues, and marketing and sales.

Usage of Online Portals:

• The most used online resources were web portals supporting business development (35%), internet portals supporting R&D (32%), web portals for business start-up (29%) and training support portals (25%)
• 30% said they have not used any such portals. Top reasons were lack of knowledge (57%) and the portals not being useful/interesting (33%).

Participation in Start-up Development Activities:

• The most common activities were pitch workshops (19%) and customer development (16%). Over 60% said they have not participated in any.
• Key reasons for not participating were lack of knowledge (48%), non-availability (35%) and the activities not being useful/interesting (35%).

Entrepreneurship Aspirations:

• 72% of respondents said they would consider starting their own business in the future.
• However, only 15% said they currently have a business idea they would like to pursue.
• On a scale of 1-5, the average rating for the support received for developing entrepreneurial skills was 3.4, indicating a moderate level of support.
• The top reasons cited for lack of support were lack of knowledge about resources (43%), non-availability of support (35%) and the support not being useful/interesting (35%).

Programme Manual Online

Choose