A doctoral student from the JU Institute of Computer Science Mr Michał Markiewicz has become one of 37 participants of the second round of the government programme "Top 500 Innovators", who will start a two-month work placement in some of the world's leading research institutions.

By attending lectures by distinguished experts, creative workshops, and study visits in the most innovative firms, the participants of the programme will learn how to effectively commercialize the results of scientific reasearch

The course focuses on such issues as: scientific research management, practical aspects of commercializing results of the research, and collaboration between economy and academia. During the course special attention is paid to the development of soft skills, such as the ability to work in group, including a multidisciplinary research team, creative thinking, effective decision making, and conflict solving. The participants of the programme watch the work of the foreign firms which pay special attention to the commercialization of research results. They also meet entrepreneurs and venture capital practitioners, and learn how to carry out innovative scientific research.

The 37 Polish participants of the programme have been selected from 128 candidates from Polish higher education institutions, research institutes, institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and technology transfer centres.

"Top 500 Innovators" is the biggest Polish government programme to support innovation in science. The participants of the first round of the project attended courses at Stanford University in the heart of Silicon Valley and, after coming back to Poland, founded an association which supports innovation in science and successful implementation of research results.