26-01-2024
The Entrepreneurship Curricular Unit (CU), a commitment from the Faculty of Science and Technology of NOVA University Lisbon as a pioneer in university entrepreneurship, began its 2024 edition on January 26th. Addressing an audience of approximately 1,000 students at this opening session were Professor Eurico Cabrita, Vice-Director of Innovation and Research; the CU coordinators, Professor Aneesh Zutshi and Professor Fernanda Llussá; and Professor Telmo Santos, Chair of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (DEMI), a department that played a key role in the design and implementation of this CU.
This course, which continues to be one of the leading training references in this field in Portugal, presents a clear challenge: over the course of five weeks and under the guidance of more than two dozen NOVA FCT faculty and more than 50 mentors, multidisciplinary teams comprised of engineering and science students develop comprehensive projects (from idea to business model, from market analysis to financial analysis) with the potential to become successful startups.
Every year, approximately 200 teams are formed, but only 12 take the stage to present their pitches in the Grand Finale, which always takes place on the last day of the program. The finalist teams will present their projects to a panel of judges comprised of experts, investors, and NOVA FCT partners, who will evaluate and determine the winning projects.
Aneesh Zutshi and Fernanda Llussá, responsible for coordinating and facilitating this course, emphasize the importance of this course, whose main objective is to promote more informal contact between students and mentors, companies, investors, and experts, with the aim of strengthening relationships between all stakeholders and generating networks of contacts that can help drive new projects.
Watch the opening ceremony of Entrepreneurship 2024 here
