Last June ended the Spring 2025 edition of Rising Innovators, the training programme in Innovation and Entrepreneurship promoted by the Innovation and Business Development Department of Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR).

This edition had 10 participants with different profiles, including 4 PIs, 2 postdoctoral researchers and 4 project managers from VHIR, who have been able to deepen in all the essential aspects to bring a new health technology to patients. The programme lasted 35 hours distributed over three months and has an estimated value of 3,000 euros. The initiative aims to improve the management of innovation projects and how they reach patients, promote innovative and entrepreneurial culture, broaden the scope of action of the Innovation and Business Development Directorate and raise the profile of diverse professional careers.

Following the success of last year's pilot test, the programme has been modified and enhanced to meet the needs of VHIR. The programme has combined interactive theoretical sessions with practical sessions, focused on applying the concepts to the participants' own research or innovation projects. This way, they had the opportunity to grow professionally by exploring and working on key topics such as licensing strategy or creation of spin-offs, applicable regulation and support from the EMA/AEMPS, patents and business models for pharmaceutical innovations, and financing innovations through investors. In addition to acquiring specialised knowledge, participants have developed practical skills in technology valorisation and transfer, and have gained skills in the leadership of innovation initiatives in the biomedical field.

This edition has been given by VHIR's innovation team together with other external experts selected ad hoc, such as Olga Sánchez-Maroto (ARO), Gemma Guinart (In vivo Partners) or Carla Maté (D-Sight). In addition, each participant has had a mentor of reference throughout the programme to provide additional support.

The Rising Innovators programme will be held twice a year, grouping participants according to the technical area of their innovative projects in order to promote learning and the exchange of experiences. The Spring edition will group participants related to pharmaceuticals (small molecules, antibodies, proteins, ATMPS), and the Fall edition will group participants related to medical technology (medical devices, in vitro diagnostics and digital solutions).

We invite all VHIR research staff interested in participating in the programme to be aware of the two annual calls, and to submit a letter of motivation and a letter of recommendation as part of the selection process. On the other hand, we encourage anyone who has questions or would like to learn more about the programme to write to innovacio@vhir.org.