Expedition+ @ UNWE 2026: From Diagnosis to Action – Unlocking Science Entrepreneurship in the Age of AI
Title: ENGAGE.EU Expedition+@ University of National and World Economy 2026: From Diagnosis to Action – Unlocking Science Entrepreneurship in the Age of AI
Topics: How can universities, researchers, and students overcome systemic barriers to science entrepreneurship using interdisciplinary collaboration and AI-powered solutions
Date: 9 November 2026 to 13 November 2026
Format: IN PERSON in Sofia, Bulgaria
Application Deadline: 25 September 2026
About the ENGAGE.EU Expedition+
The ENGAGE.EU Expedition+ is a one-week intensive, international, and multidisciplinary co-design programme aimed at empowering learners to develop innovative solutions to real-life challenges. It is a collaborative programme that unites students, experts, and mentors from the ENGAGE.EU Alliance, leveraging inno-preneurship principles to generate societal value through innovation.
With the involvement of researchers, PhD candidates, and students from alliance universities, the Expedition+ enriches its interdisciplinary approach, amplifying the diversity of perspectives, skills, and expertise that participants bring to each challenge. By engaging in this international co-design programme, participants work in interdisciplinary teams, guided by design-thinking methodologies and mission-oriented strategies.
ENGAGE.EU expeditions are organised on top of the regular curriculum of students and have been expanded to include PhD candidates and researchers.
Gain insights into the previous Expedition Weeks:
Past Expedition Weeks
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Background: The Collaboration Circle
Between June and July 2026, the ENGAGE.EU Alliance, through its lab at the University of National and World Economy (UNWE) in Sofia, convened a Collaboration Circle – a structured, multi-session diagnostic process – to identify and analyse the core challenges to science entrepreneurship.
Over three intensive sessions, 18 researchers, academics, PhD students, and entrepreneurship enthusiasts from across Europe (Bulgaria, Italy, Germany, France, Morocco, and Austria) worked together to:
- Session 1: Identify the focal problem – “Missing entrepreneurial competencies among researchers“– through problem pitching, voting, and a „5 Whys“ surface diagnosis.
- Session 2: Uncover systemic roots by interrogating real institutional artefacts (promotion criteria, failed commercialisation attempts, researcher time-use logs), revealing that the challenge is not that researchers lackskills, but that the academic system is structurally designed to prevent them from acquiring or using those skills.
- Session 3: Generate creative „What If?” reversals (e.g., “What if promotion criteria required a spin-off?”, “What if universities paid researchers for entrepreneurial exploration time?”, “What if every PhD thesis required a working prototype?”) and draft a 90-day action playbook.
The Core Challenge Defined:
„The academic system is structurally designed to reward publications and teaching while excluding, penalising, and providing no time for commercialisation – and this structural misalignment is reinforced by bureaucratic inertia, regulatory rigidity, and a cultural disconnect between academia and industry.“
A New Dimension: AI-Powered Research Commercialisation
Building on the Collaboration Circle’s findings, the Expedition+ Week introduces a critical new dimension: How can artificial intelligence (AI) be leveraged to commercialise research products more effectively, efficiently, and at scale?
Why AI Matters for Science Entrepreneurship
AI offers significant opportunities for supporting the commercialisation of academic research – accelerating spin-off growth and enhancing knowledge transfer from academia to industry. Technology transfer offices (TTOs) are increasingly emerging as a key factor in ensuring AI’s responsible application in research and innovation.
However, significant gaps remain. Academic patents hold substantial commercial value, but companies struggle to find time to communicate with busy university scholars who invented them – slowing down the transfer process and hindering potential co-development opportunities.
How AI Can Address the Core Challenge
AI can help overcome the systemic barriers identified by the Collaboration Circle in several ways:
Barrier Identified | AI-Powered Solution |
Lack of tailored mentorship and support | AI-driven platforms can provide automated guidance on market validation, value proposition development, and business model design. |
Generic, one-size-fits-all TTO services | AI can generate customised, non-confidential summaries („one-pagers“) of technologies – reducing a process that takes days to less than an hour. |
Weak funding proposals and poor success rates | AI systems can analyse historical grant applications and reviewer feedback to strengthen new submissions. |
Lack of connection between researchers and industry | AI-powered talent scouting and matchmaking tools can systematically connect academic talent with industry stakeholders. |
Time poverty and administrative burden | AI can automate routine tasks such as drafting marketing plans, social media content, and contract management. |
Regulatory and bureaucratic inertia | AI can help researchers navigate complex regulatory landscapes and streamline the path to market. |
The Challenge Framework
Participants will work in multidisciplinary teams on challenges derived directly from the Collaboration Circle’s diagnostic outputs. Challenges will be framed around the three priority „What If?“ reversals identified by the Circle, plus a new AI-specific challenge:
Challenge | Core Question |
Challenge 1: Reimagining Academic Incentives | „How can universities redesign promotion and evaluation criteria to recognise and reward commercialisation, spin-offs, and industry engagement?“ |
Challenge 2: Creating Time & Space for Entrepreneurship | „How can we structurally embed paid entrepreneurial exploration time into researchers’ workloads?“ |
Challenge 3: Bridging the Academic-Industry Gap | „How can we create sustainable, scalable mechanisms – such as matchmaking events, industry placements, or ‘translator’ roles – to build trust and collaboration between researchers and business?“ |
Challenge 4: AI-Powered Research Commercialisation (NEW) | „How can AI be leveraged to accelerate, automate, or enhance the commercialisation of research products – from ideation to licensing, spin-off creation, and regulatory navigation – while addressing ethical, legal, and trust concerns?“ |
Challenge 4 – AI-Powered Research Commercialisation: Sub-Themes
Participants choosing Challenge 4 will explore one or more of the following sub-themes:
Sub-Theme | Focus Area |
AI for Market Validation | Analysing market needs, identifying customers, and validating commercial potential. |
AI for Technology Transfer | Automating TTO workflows – from invention disclosure to patent drafting and licensing. |
AI for Grant & Funding Proposals | Improving the quality and success rates of funding applications. |
AI for Researcher-Industry Matching | Platforms to connect researchers with industry partners, mentors, and co-founders. |
AI for Regulatory Navigation | Helping researchers understand and comply with complex regulations. |
AI for Spin-off Acceleration | Accelerating growth – from business model development to go-to-market strategy. |
Responsible & Ethical AI in Commercialisation | Addressing trust, security, and accountability in AI-driven commercialisation. |
Who Should Apply?
We invite applications from individuals affiliated with ENGAGE.EU partner universities, including:
- Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD students. (It’s advisable Bachelor’s students to be in the last year of their studies.)
- Postdoctoral researchers and early-career academics
- Faculty members interested in entrepreneurship education, institutional change, and AI applications in research commercialisation
- Administrative staff from technology transfer offices, research support units, or other university departments
- Policy advisors and accreditation specialists.
Participants should:
- Have a strong interest in science entrepreneurship, innovation, or academic commercialisation.
- Be willing to work in multidisciplinary, multinational teams.
- Be comfortable with design-thinking methodologies and collaborative ideation.
- Be prepared to move from diagnosis to action – generating practical, implementable solutions.
- For Challenge 4 participants: have a basic understanding of AI concepts and an interest in their application to real-world challenges.
Note on External Partners: Industry professionals, entrepreneurs, and mentors from outside the ENGAGE.EU Alliance may be invited to participate as mentors, guest speakers, or jury members – and will be selected directly by the hosting university.
Programme Structure
Day | Focus | Activities |
Day 1 | Immersion & Framing | Opening keynote, Collaboration Circle findings, challenge briefing, team formation, design-thinking primer. Special session: „AI in Research Commercialisation – Opportunities, Risks, and Real-World Examples.“ |
Days 2-3 | Ideation & Development | Intensive team work using design-thinking techniques (Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test). Expert-led workshops on: AI for market validation, AI-powered grant writing, AI for IP and patent management, ethical AI, and pitching. Access to AI prototyping tools. |
Day 4 | Refinement & Pitching | Finalisation of prototypes/solutions, pitch coaching, and preparation of presentations. Special session: „Pitching AI-Powered Ventures – What Investors Look For.“ |
Day 5 | Pitching & Selection | Teams present solutions to a jury of experts, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and AI specialists. Special session: „From Expedition to Action – Horizon Europe and Other Funding Opportunities.“ |
Additional elements:
- Social and cultural programmeto foster networking and cross-cultural exchange.
- Mentoring sessionswith experienced science entrepreneurs, technology transfer professionals, and AI experts.
- Access to AI tools and platformsfor prototyping and testing solutions.
Expected Impact
By participating in this Expedition+, you will:
- Gain hands-on experience in challenge-based, mission-oriented co-design.
- Develop practical skills in ideation, prototyping, pitching, and venture building – with a focus on AI applications.
- Build a network of like-minded peers, mentors, and industry partners across Europe.
- Contribute to real-world change – solutions will be shared with ENGAGE.EU leadership, TTOs, and policymakers.
- Deepen your understanding of systemic barriers to science entrepreneurship and the role of AI in overcoming them.
- Explore funding opportunities – including Horizon Europe and the GenAI4EU initiative.
- Earn a certificate of participation from the ENGAGE.EU Alliance.
Application Requirements
To apply for the ENGAGE.EU Expedition+, you should provide:
- A short motivation letter (max. 300 words) explaining your interest, relevant experience, and what you hope to contribute and gain. If applying for Challenge 4, indicate your interest in AI-powered commercialisation.
- A curriculum vitae (CV) highlighting education, work experience, language skills, and any relevant study or work abroad experience.
- A brief statement (max. 200 words) on one challenge you would like to work on and why. For Challenge 4, indicate which sub-theme(s) interest you most.
Selection
Submitted applications are evaluated by the academics and staff working in the ENGAGE.EU Labs. Candidates will be evaluated based on their motivation letter, CV and statement on the challenge. In order to ensure equal participation among students from the different partner universities, the selection committee will aim at choosing four participants from each partner university. Final decisions also consider a range of criteria for cohort composition, including but not limited to disciplinary balance, institutional diversity, and demographic diversity.
The selection notification will be on 1 October 2026.
Practical Information and Contact Person
- Venue: University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria
- Format:In-person
- Working Language: English
- Team Size:4–5 members, multinational
- Costs:Participation is free. Travel and accommodation costs may be covered by the ENGAGE.EU Alliance (subject to budget availability – please check with your local ENGAGE.EU coordinator).
- Eligibility:Open to students, researchers, and professionals from EU partner universities and associated partners.
For any questions, please contact: Assoc. Prof. Kostadin Kolarov (kkolarov@unwe.bg)
Application Form
Please submit your application materials here: