A new season of the «Startup as a Diploma» program was opened at INRTU
INRTU rector Mikhail Korniakov emphasized that the initiator of this project was Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU, Vladivostok). INRTU supported the defense format when a company founded by a student eventually becomes his thesis.
«You can use various support measures to implement your projects. Among them is participation in the «Startup Studio». INRTU is among 15 Russian universities that will have such studios. It is possible to receive preferential loan funds in amount of up to 350 million rubles for projects development within the «Startup studio». There are also more opportunities in the international area. For example, specialists from Mongolian Financial University are ready to join INRTU startups, in particular, to help to orient them toward the Mongolian market», the rector said.
Irina Chelpanova, acting vice-rector for youth policy at INRTU, gave a presentation. According to her, the program has been implemented for two years. During this time 20 students have defended their theses in the form of a business project. The first project was presented by Vladislav Smirnov, a graduate of the Management Department. He developed a mobile game for smartphones. Last summer Pavel Grigorov, a fifth-year student, presented a bionic prosthesis to the committee. Fyodor Deryugin presented a system of personnel tracking at remote industrial sites.
Valeria Kupriyanova is the new program manager this academic year.
«Your startup topic must match the academic program and have prospects for commercialization. The project must be presented at the stage of readiness to attract investment or it must be an operating businesses. In this way, INRTU students will get a ready-made startup, additional points for admission to the next degree of education, as well as access to the pitch sessions and educational modules,» - said Irina.
Participation in the program implies competitive selection. Applicants must submit their applications and presentations by November 20, 2022 to the VK group «Entrepreneurship at INRTU». In the beginning of December experts will evaluate students' ideas in terms of feasibility and relevance to the market. A pitch session of theses is planned for May.
