BioBusiness Winter School

Many life scientists will make a switch to industry at some point in their career. But in the academic arena in which scientists learn their scientific skills, basic business aspects aren’t often elaborated upon while they are essential to succeed. The BioBusiness Winter School aims to fill the gap.

The BioBusiness Winter School is a three day course for academics (MSc’s, PhD’s, postdocs) contemplating a career switch to industry, and young professionals in their first industry jobs. The programme offers sessions focused on gaining key knowledge of main business topics such as Business Models, Partnerships, Venture Capital and Career Orientation, and interactive sessions with business leaders giving you their insights in the world of Life Sciences companies. By immersing yourself in the business aspects of Life Sciences we will introduce you to many subjects which will help you to kick-start your career in industry or entrepreneurship.

The 2026 edition will be an in-person course taking place from 16-18 February 2026 in Ghent, Belgium

If you would rather attend the 5-days in-person programme planned in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, visit the BioBusiness Summer School website.

Course objectives
By the end of the course, participants will:

• Have discovered career paths outside academia, from business development to consultancys and entrepreneurship;
• Be able to discuss various types of business models in life sciences and link organisations to these business models;
• Have gained knowledge of available career opportunities in industry;
• Have gathered insights into business dynamics and leadership tracks with Life Sciences companies;
• Have expanded their business network of peers and professionals.

Participant profile
We introduced the BioBusiness Winter School for the first time in 2021 as an online course. The participant statistics below are based on this first edition and will give you an understanding of the profile of past participants:

• PhD candidates (75%)
  
• Postdoctoral fellows (10%)
  
• Scientists interested in BioBusiness and/or starting their own company (5%)
  
• Scientists in their first industry jobs (7%)
  
• Masters' students (2%)
  

The programme focuses on medical biotechnology, but is also suitable for other life sciences fields such as plant biotechnology, food technology and industrial biotechnology. Considering the level of the course we recommend a minimum education level of BSc.