University of Auckland launches Researcher Hatchery
10 August 2023
The programme aims to give participants the entrepreneurial skills to use their research to create commercial or societal impact.
Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland has launched a brand-new researcher hatchery that will enable researchers to identify new ways to make an exponential societal or commercial impact through their research.
The programme has been established to further contribute to the already significant impact that research has had on New Zealand’s prosperity. A 2023 report from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) estimates that 8.2 to 9.7 percent of New Zealand’s economic activity (GDP) is a consequence of university research and ideas permeating out into the economy over time.
The Researcher Hatchery is being delivered by the Business School’s international award-winning Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) and is open to researchers of all disciplines. The hatchery has been made possible through support from the University’s Office of Research Strategy and Integrity (ORSI) and UniServices, the University’s knowledge mobilisation and investment company.
In order for New Zealand to do our part to create solutions for local and global economic, environmental and social problems, we need a robust community of researchers with entrepreneurial mindsets and skills to transform knowledge into action. The University’s new Researcher Hatchery is an exciting development.
CIE Director Darsel Keane says, “In creating the programme, we benchmarked against international examples of programmes that develop researchers’ entrepreneurship and commercialisation capabilities and have adapted exemplars for the New Zealand entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
The Researcher Hatchery is a 12-week programme designed to educate participants around how to identify opportunities, conduct product or market audits, design solutions, learn how to build a team and develop knowledge of legal and regulatory climates, negotiation, pricing, funding, communication, presentation and more.
The first intake for the Researcher Hatchery will begin on 22 September 2023, with further cohorts planned for 2024.