From Research to Impact: Two Days Inside Prague’s Innovation Ecosystem

Feb 13
2 min read

Updated: Feb 16

2 days ✅ 25 fantastic participants 🙌 10 countries 🌍 18 organisations 🤝

This week, we had the pleasure of hosting a study visit on #research #valorisation and Prague’s innovation ecosystem as part of the widerAdvance Facility. 🚀

The programme was structured as a sequence of site visits and focused discussions.

Day 1: Innovation infrastructure and university support

The first day concentrated on how research support is organised at institutional level.

We started the day with a tour of the unique NTK building and its facilities. We were warmly welcomed by its director, Petr Očko, and Jana Soukupová (with the support of our co-CEO, Vojtěch Kadlec) gave us a insightful and clear presentation of the Czech research and innovation ecosystem.

At a Kampus Hybernská, the focus shifted to operational practice:

how researchers are supported from idea to proof of concept
how startup support programmes are structured
how interdisciplinary teams are formed
how collaboration between academia and city-based innovation actors is managed

The emphasis was on workflows and tools rather than theory: internal procedures, evaluation criteria, support services, and coordination between research management and external partners.

A big thank you to

Tomáš Vokáč, Manager of Kampus Hybernská - HYB4City, Helena Tůmová, Programme Coordinator, Kampus Hybernská
Ivo Svejkovský, Head, Centre for Knowledge and Technology Transfer (CPPT UK), Nikola Minks, Patent Specialist, CPPT UK
Jiří Plecitý, Chief Commercial Officer, Charles University Innovations Prague (CUIP)
Adéla Jiroudková, Head of Research Support Office incl. European Centre
Michal Andera, UniStarter, Institute of Entrepreneurship, University of Economics

for sharing their practices.

Day 2: Large research infrastructures and industry collaboration

The second day moved outside Prague to visit ELI Beamlines and HiLASE Centre, where Aleš Hála and Sanin Zulić, M.B.A., M.Sc . shared their approaches to strategic industry partnerships, IP protection, and licensing. Participants explored how large-scale facilities structure collaboration agreements, how they approach IP ownership, and how they position themselves within international value chains.

Interactive session: From Lab to Market

The programme concluded with an interactive workshop by our co-CEO Vojtech Nosek, dedicated to commercialisation pathways. Rather than focusing on policy, the session addressed practical questions:

When is a technology mature enough for licensing?
How early should market validation begin?
What are common mistakes in early-stage commercialisation?
How can research teams prepare for discussions with investors or industry?

Over the two days, the visit combined ecosystem overview, institutional practice, infrastructure-level strategy, and hands-on commercialisation discussion. The goal was not to present a single “model,” but to expose participants to concrete examples of how research valorisation is organised in practice. We would like to thank everyone for their openness and for sharing their experiences.

Presentations for download:

widerAdvance Facility