Lyon

The focus of this training activity was to provide the early stage researchers with the abilities they would need to transition from academia into industry.

To do so, the ESRs were exposed to the different options they have in industry, from launching their own start-up to working for a multi-national company.

The main training the ESRs received was on how to prepare their CVs, resumes and interviews for jobs in industry. The various activities made throughout the week included CV corrections, research on companies and mock interviews, all based on real job applications provided by each of the ESRs.

Lectures also covered the various aspects of developing research in the private industry.

The ESRs attended presentations about the long process from conception of a medical device to the introduction of that device in the market (and the different aspects involved in each step of the way), about how to perform clinical trials and how to focus their PhD research, and protect intellectual property, so the research idea can become a successful start-up business.

There were presentations about real-life success stories of PhD students that launched their own start-up businesses.

Finally, to show how R&D works in the industrial environment, the ESRs took part in two visits.

First, they went to the CERMEP imaging centre, located in the East Hospital in Lyon, a research centre that offers medical imaging platforms (CT, MRI, PET-CT) to perform in vivo clinical and pre-clinical trials.

Secondly, the ESRs visited the headquarters of EDAP-TMS, a worldwide leader in High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound therapeutic devices. The ESRs were welcomed by Emmanuel Blanc, director of R&D, and were given a tour through the facilities.

In both visits the ESRs posed numerous questions that allowed to better understand the role of scientific staff in the industrial world.

The formal review of this training activity is publicly available in the VPH-CaSE deliverable, D5.5.