Autumn School 2025 – Three Days of Innovation, Exchange, and Tech Transfer
From October 20–22, 2025, the Autumn School took place at the beautiful Villa Ida Media Campus in Leipzig, bringing together researchers and innovators from TU Dresden and the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI). Over three days, participants focused on technology transfer, commercialization, business modeling, IP strategy, pitch training, and financing.
Six interdisciplinary teams – Ribolution, NK4Therapy, Elia Cell, Green Pharming, NeuroNK, and CAR-Finder – worked intensively on refining their business ideas, developing commercialization strategies, and preparing for their final pitches.
Throughout the program, participants benefited from inspiring sessions and practical input. Nadine Schmieder-Galfe opened the event with insights into technology transfer; Stefanie Wieneke guided the teams through the Business Model Canvas; and Anett Karl, Hans-Georg Wagner, and Radoslav Ivanov shared their expertise on intellectual property and IP protection.
A dynamic pitch training session led by Konrad Sell helped participants sharpen their presentation skills ahead of the final pitch session. The expert jury – Marion Jung, Pierre Tangermann, and Christian John – provided valuable feedback to all teams. The program also welcomed industry insights from Silvio Weber of Miltenyi Biotec, who offered real-world perspectives on tech transfer in the life sciences.
A heartfelt thank-you goes to the main organizers, Nadine Schmieder-Galfe and Alexander Funkner, for their dedication and effort in making this inspiring event possible.
These three days were filled with learning, exchange, and entrepreneurial spirit – a great example of how collaboration between science and business can drive innovation forward.
