“We need more initiatives like this that encourage student interdisciplinarity” and “Give us more than just study, pass, finish”—these are some of the statements that best reflect the main message from medicine, civil engineering, and economics students during a focus group. The session was organized last November at the School of Medicine in Split by the NetHub entrepreneurial accelerator.
The focus group was held to transfer fundamental knowledge about modern entrepreneurship to students of the University of Split, with questions centered on entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial institutions, and HealthTech. Attendees had the opportunity to learn the basics of connecting with the business sector and expressed a strong desire to participate in interdisciplinary initiatives.
Following market needs and respecting student wishes, NetHub, in collaboration with the University of Split, launched an initiative to introduce UniStart—an innovative student entrepreneurship program. Its novelty lies in the fact that to explore, learn, and create entrepreneurial ideas, a student does not need to have a pre-existing idea or a team; all they need is the will to participate and one available day per week during the two-month program period.
In March, two UniStart promotional events were held at the University Library and the University Department for Professional Studies. Students were presented with the program plan and the methodology for identifying two social challenges that will be addressed through entrepreneurial projects. Experts conducted the first day of the Design Sprint, which extracted specific challenges from broad topics to be solved through UniStart. Design Sprint is an innovative solution-finding method that will be used in the program, notable for its time constraints and use of design thinking to reduce risk when bringing a new product, service, or feature to market.
A public call for student applications has been published, mentors have been assigned, and following the formation of interdisciplinary student teams, the implementation of UniStart begins. At the end of the program, a Demo Day will be held where teams will present their entrepreneurial projects, with valuable prizes awarded to the best among them.