‘Begin with the application in mind’

Rebecca Saive doesn’t want to choose between science and entrepreneurship: ‘Begin with the application in mind’

Right across her office at the University of Twente is a business park filled with academic startups. Since arriving in the Netherlands in 2018, Professor of Applied Physics Rebecca Saive has observed a positive trend: entrepreneurship is increasingly considered as a natural career path for scientists. ‘It’s going quite well, but I don’t think we are at our full potential yet. We could definitely have more ideas and technologies spun out if more people feel courageous enough to take the lead.’

Practice what you preach: Rebecca Saive herself is the perfect example of successfully combining fundamental research with entrepreneurship. Before the German-born came to the Netherlands, Saive worked at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). In 2017 she co-founded the start-up ETC Solar (now Mesoline). Just a couple of years later, she was a finalist for the EU Prize for Women Innovators, was awarded MIT’s European Innovators under 35, and was also selected for MIT’s global ‘Innovators Under 35’ award. ‘If you want to make a real invention from a hardcore scientific domain, such as the field of solar energy that I work in, you have to really understand the core of everything. On the other hand, you also want to have an impact on society, change things for the better, by translating your new knowledge into an actual product, or service, or training. And one way of doing that is through entrepreneurship, by founding a company that can pick it up and bring it to a state where it benefits society.’

Rebecca Saive with her former postdoc adviser Harry Atwater (Caltech), a serial entrepreneur himself, in front of the UT incubator high tech factory

People shouldn’t have to make a choice between science and entrepreneurship?
‘Definitely not! By enforcing that choice, you would forfeit the opportunity to thoroughly invent, and at the same time have a major impact. Combining those two things is by far the strongest. My former postdoc advisor at Caltech, Professor Harry Atwater, taught me that although fundamental science is crucial for making breakthroughs, it is equally important to keep the application in mind and, from the beginning, consider practical implications.’

‘By enforcing the choice between science and entrepreneurship, you would forfeit the opportunity to thoroughly invent, and at the same time have a major impact’

Does entrepreneurship in general suffer from reputation issues in Dutch academia?
‘Not just in Dutch academia, I also found this in Germany. Very often, people think these are two distinct things. You can either focus on your science or leave and start a company. It seems like they don’t really fit together, which, in my opinion, is totally untrue. But I do have the feeling that it is getting better. I don’t get any negative feedback. I strongly believe that this is also a matter of showing by doing: people in my environment notice that I have good scientific output next to my entrepreneurial track.’

Shortly after arriving in Twente, Saive was asked what, with all her experience, she thought would be the perfect way to kick off entrepreneurship. Her answer was to offer scientists with innovative ideas a salary for a few years, with no strings attached. ‘That way they would have the freedom to look into things, without having to worry about their income, and without having to fear that there would be a gap in their resume.’ A few years later, she learned that a program was being launched under the name of Faculty of Impact. I don’t know if people were already building this at the time when I got the question, but I realized that this new program exactly fulfilled my wishes.’

Needless to say, you are enthusiastic about the program?
‘See, most people don’t want to take the risk of starting something without a salary. That’s completely normal. Especially in this phase, after completing your university degree or PhD, people often want to move into their own house. This program gives you employment and a fixed salary. That opens the road for people to engage in their startup activities without having to risk cutting back on their personal goals.’

‘This program opens the road for people to engage in their startup activities without having to risk cutting back on their personal goals’

Is funding the main issue that needs to be solved in order to create more impact from science?
‘Yes, and that’s different in all the stages that you go through. First, you need funding to develop the technology to a state where you believe it is close to market-ready, so that it makes sense to found a startup. That in itself is hard enough already: the technology readiness level required to start a business is quite high. In my own field, it’s often hard to achieve that in a university project. If you do manage to get there, at some point, you will need additional money to pay the first employees who are doing full-time work on startup topics and are no longer fully embeddable in the university. It’s straightforward to find funding for fundamental research, in the sense that there are grants and a system to fund this type of work. And once you have demonstrated its potential applications in industry, you can turn to investors. But in between lies this funding gap, where it neither fits in academia anymore nor can it be picked up by an investor. Bridging that gap is so incredibly difficult.’

Do you think it’s easy to find your way in the so-called valorization landscape?
‘Yes and no. Nobody takes you by the hand and says, “Well, these are the funding opportunities, and these are the steps you have to take to eventually get to the point where you want to be.” However, if you ensure you are in contact with a knowledgeable person at your university’s knowledge transfer office, they should be able to give you an overview and connect you to the existing opportunities. And yes, you will have to cope with different entities that have different grants and subsidies to offer, which may partly overlap. But I see that as an opportunity rather than a problem. I’m quite happy with the support we get here in Twente.’

Talk to as many people as possible; that is always the clue to building up a network’

What advice would you give to students with an innovative idea?
‘The first step is to find out whether there is a market for your idea. Talk to as many people as possible; that is always the clue to building up a network. Whether it’s people in the field you are targeting, investors, or anyone else who may be helpful to you. I’m sending my students to events and to peers to ensure they’re exposed to various trainings and workshops, where they can learn everything there is to know about their markets and entrepreneurship.’