Entrepreneurship for PhD Students
Type of Activity:
PhD Workshop, One-day course
Title:
Entrepreneurship for PhD Students: From Research to Startup
Organizer(s):
Nikolaj Oppermann, Christian Marcus - ITU NextGen, ITU Business Development A/S
Guest speakers:
Jonas Arnold Jürgensen-Breum, Co-founder & CEO of VenomAid, and Co-founder at Agrobiomics
Date and time:
16 April 2026: 9:00 – 17:00
Registration:
Registration deadline was 31st of March 2026.
Room: 2F14
Course Description:
This one-day workshop challenges PhD students to do something their training rarely asks of them: examine their own research from the outside in.
You have spent years learning to defend your thesis - to prove your work is valid, rigorous, and significant within your field. That is the right instinct for academic research. Entrepreneurship asks a different question entirely: does this work solve a problem that someone outside academia actually has? And if so, who bears that problem, and why would they care about your solution?
These are not easy questions for researchers. They are also not startup questions. They are critical thinking skills that matter whether you become a founder, join industry, stay in research, or advise organisations. Learning to separate "my research is interesting" from "my research solves a valued problem" is one of the most practically useful things a PhD student can develop.
This course does not aim to turn you into an entrepreneur. It aims to instill in you the habit of examining your work from the perspective of the people it is meant to serve - and the tools to do so rigorously.
The Core Tension:
Academic training focuses on defending your solution. Entrepreneurial thinking begins with questioning whether the problem is even worth solving. Both are valid disciplines. Most researchers have only practiced one of them. This course provides you with a structured day to practice the other.
Learning Objectives:
- Distinguish between academic validity and real-world value - and articulate why the gap between them matters
- Identify who bears the cost of the problem their research addresses, and why that person or organisation would act on a solution
- Apply the Research Commercialization Canvas to map their own research against a concrete opportunity or challenge
- Formulate one testable assumption - the next honest step between where their research is now and whether it could create impact beyond academia
Preparation:
Students are required to read the following two articles before the course day and come prepared to discuss how they relate to their own research:
- Ash Maurya, "Love the Problem, Not Your Solution" - leanfoundry.com/articles/love-the-problem-not-your-solution
- Short and direct. The central argument: the biggest risk is not building the wrong product - it is solving a problem no one has. Read it with your own research in mind.
- HBR, "Are You Solving the Right Problems?" - hbr.org/2017/01/are-you-solving-the-right-problems
- A rigorous, non-startup lens on problem framing. Useful precisely because it does not come from the startup world - it comes from consulting and management, which many PhD students will enter.
Come prepared to answer in one sentence: What problem does my research address, and who has that problem right now? You do not need a polished answer. An honest, uncertain one is more useful.
| Time | Activity | Description |
| 09:00- 09:15 | Welcome | Introduction to the course, the day's structure, and the central question: what does it mean to examine your own research from the outside in? |
| 09:15 - 10:15 | Lecture: Problems Before Solutions | An introduction to problem-first thinking and why the gap between academic significance and real-world value is wider than it looks. Introduction to the Research Commercialisation Canvas. |
| 10:15 - 10:30 | Coffee Break | Informal networking. |
| 10:30 - 12:00 | Workshop 1: Who Has Your Problem? | Interactive group work where students utilize the Research Commercialization Canvas to explore how their research can provide financial or societal value.Guidance from mentors will be provided. |
| 12:00 - 13:00 | Lunch | Opportunity for networking and informal discussions. |
| 13:00 - 14:00 | Founder Talk: Jonas Arnold Jürgensen-Breum | A Danish startup founder shares how he moved from research to real-world impact — what he had to unlearn, and what he wishes he had known. |
| 14:00 - 15:30 | Workshop 2: Stress-Testing Your Canvas | Students complete the full Research Commercialisation Canvas and use AI tools to challenge their problem framing and identify what has already been tried. |
| 15:30 - 15:45 | Coffee Break | Informal networking. |
| 15:45 - 16:30 | Presentations: The Problem, Not the Solution | Each participant presents their research in a commercial and societal context, followed by group discussion and peer feedback. |
| 16:30 - 17:00 | Wrap-Up | Summary of key takeaways and one concrete next step for each participant. |
Prerequisites:
To attend you must be a PhD student enrolled at the ITU. ITU Postdocs may also attend, if space permits it.
Assessment:
Students will be assessed on active participation in both workshops and their ability to present a clear, honest problem framing using the Research Commercialisation Canvas. A polished business idea is not the goal - a well-reasoned articulation of a real problem and who has it is.
Credits:
1 ECTS
Number of Participants:
Expected 10-20 PhD students.