"Creating your own company" sessions - encouraging budding entrepreneurs

Starting this December, the Education Department, the MAASCC welcome and support structure for contract researchers and the Research Applications and Industrial Relations Department are running a new monthly event to encourage scientists interested in setting up their own companies. This event, entitled "Creating your own company", will take the form of a breakfast meeting on the first Tuesday of each month, from 8.30 to 10am.

The first edition took place on December 1 and attracted around 15 scientists, post-doctoral fellows and PhD students from the Institut Pasteur. The speaker at this first session was José-Alain Sahel, who discussed his career as a clinician, scientist and entrepreneur (he has created 4 start-ups), his links with pharmaceutical companies and funding bodies, and his future plans.

The next edition of "Creating your own company" is due to be held on Tuesday, January 5, from 8.30 to 10am in room 28-01-01A of the François Jacob building. The speaker will be Cécile Réal, CEO and founder of Endodiag. Before creating Endodiag in 2011, Cécile Réal founded Bioprofile, an innovative company developing biomaterials for orthopedic surgery, and managed the company from 1999 to 2007. She then joined Ariana Pharma as Chief Operating Officer from 2008 to 2010. She has also been President of Medicalps (a biocluster for the healthcare industry in the French Alps) since June 2008.

To sign up, please send an email to Lisa Riffaud. Note that there are just 20 spaces available and the deadline for registration is January 4.