Research to Start-up Bootcamp

Date and Time: 17-19 Feb 2026 
Applications close: 1 December
Location: CIE Unleash Space

The Research Start-up Bootcamp is a free, hands-on programme for doctoral candidates and research-active staff at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland.

Designed especially for researchers, the Bootcamp will help you explore how your ideas and discoveries can move beyond the university to create value in the world. Over three action-packed days you’ll take part in interactive workshops, hear from inspiring speakers, and learn alongside peers from across disciplines.

You don’t need to arrive with an idea ready for commercialisation. This programme will equip you with tools, skills, and confidence that you can apply to current or future research opportunities.

While individuals are welcome, teams from the same lab or research group may find it especially valuable to work together, reflecting how research commercialisation often happens in practice.

• Explore how your research can be utilised to make a tangible impact.
• Get hands-on experience in turning ideas into commercial opportunities.
• Learn the fundamentals of building a venture around research.
• Understand why intellectual property matters and how it works.
• Hear directly from researchers who have become founders.
• Meet investors and discover what they look for in science-based ventures.
• Practise pitching your research in a clear, compelling way.
• Connect with people and organisations who can support your next steps.
• Build networks across disciplines with other entrepreneurial-minded researchers.

Leave with an action plan for applying entrepreneurial thinking to your career.

By the end of the Bootcamp, you will:

• Recognise and shape research into opportunities for impact.
• Understand what’s involved in building a research-based venture, including teams, business models and resources.
• Gain an introduction to intellectual property and how it supports research translation.
• Develop skills in communicating the value of your research to wider audiences.
• Discover the next steps and supports available to move your research towards application.

Duration: Three days
Commitment: 10am-4pm each day
Final day celebration: 19 February, 4-6pm 

Darsel Keane

Darsel is the Director of the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE). She has previously worked at The Icehouse and EverEdge IP, specialising in intellectual property and commercialisation consulting. 

Her PhD research focuses on measuring an entrepreneurial mindset. Darsel has played a foundational role in establishing CIE’s programmes and building Unleash Space from the ground up. 

Deborah Shepherd

Dr Shepherd is a part-time senior lecturer at the University, designing and delivering CIE’s programmes that support innovators and early-stage start-up founders. She also holds roles as a board member, adviser, investor, educator, and business owner, including a board position with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE), New Zealand’s international business development agency. 

Deb also serves as an Adviser to the New Zealand Government’s Minister of Small Business and is Chair of Soul Capital, a social impact investment firm. 

Applications close 1 December

If you have questions about the programme, please contact cie_programmes@auckland.ac.nz 

The Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship provides a world of opportunity to participants so that they can stand-out and create value through innovative careers and start-up creation. 

CIE is New Zealand’s leading University entrepreneurship centre, winning 14 international awards since 2020. 

The Research to Start-up Bootcamp is supported by the UniServices investment committees and Return on Science.