On 26 January, the Industry Day of the long-term national research programme “BioPhoT” took place at the University of Latvia (UL) House of Sciences. Participants - biomedical and photonics experts, entrepreneurs, researchers and investors - agreed that successful innovations come from collaboration between academia and industry, prototype development, international partnerships and investor involvement, thus strengthening Latvia's innovation competitiveness.
“The BioPhoT Industry Day aimed to strengthen the dialogue between science and industry, promote knowledge transfer and support the development of new research and innovation projects. The event brought together more than 200 participants, more than half of whom were science professionals and the rest representing industry, innovation and other sectors.
International and Latvian experts addressed the participants, including the Global Deep Tech (deep tech) innovation ecosystems Hello Tomorrow, the Polish Association of University Knowledge Transfer Companies, the University of Tartu and Alliance4Life, and the Health Innovators Network EIT Health representatives. The panel discussion “What hinders successful industry-academia collaboration?” the foreign experts were joined by the Ministry of Economics, Riga Technical University (RTU), as well as companies Alternative Plants and PharmIdea representatives.
International experts highlighted the importance of cooperation between academia and industry in early-stage research and deep technology or deep tech area. They also highlighted prototyping, spin-off the importance of business development and strong global partnerships, especially for smaller countries and the Central European region. They stressed the importance of translating scientific results into commercialisable products and that attracting investors and technology transfer and commercialisation offices (Technology Transfer Office Developing TTO functions.
In order to strengthen long-term cooperation opportunities internationally, promote knowledge and experience exchange, as well as open new pathways for the international growth of Latvian research and innovation, two strategic cooperation memoranda were signed between BioPhoT and leading international innovation organisations during the event. Memorandum of Cooperation with the Innovation Network Hello Tomorrow Strengthens the involvement of Latvian researchers and start-ups in global innovation networks. Cooperation with EIT Health BioPhoT's important role in the health and biomedical innovation ecosystem. This partnership will strengthen the capacity of Latvian research projects to become part of pan-European health innovation initiatives.
The panel concluded that the success of innovation is not just about funding or infrastructure, but also about trust, communication and long-term cooperation between people. A large part of successful projects in Latvia started from personal contacts and informal conversations. The interlocutors also stressed the importance of the industry PhD model, the ability of scientists to present their ideas in a simple way, and the ability of entrepreneurs to articulate their needs to bridge the communication gap between academia and industry.
Offering a glimpse into the innovations that are emerging with BioPhoT support, a special session of poster presentations during the Industry Day featured scientific presentations from all 40 projects launched on the platform so far. Two thematic parallel sessions gave the opportunity to get to know 13 research ideas selected by BioPhoT experts. The presentations were evaluated by an Industry Day panel of experts who provided feedback to the authors on their commercialisation and market uptake potential.
The panel of experts awarded the best project presentation in the field of biomedicine, medical technology and pharmaceutics to “Identification and monitoring of clinically relevant biomarkers using sweat analysis (SwyCard)” (project leader Kristaps Kļaviņš, RTU). The best project presentation in the field of photonics and smart materials, technologies and engineering systems was “Robust EMI protection for high integrity cyber security solutions” (project leader Sergejs Gaidukovs, RTU).
“The BioPhoT platform is continuing the call for research and innovation project proposals and at least 25 more research teams are expected to start their projects in early March. The project funder, the Ministry of Economy, underlined the importance of innovation for economic growth, especially for exports, as well as the growing role of the defence sector and science-industry cooperation, and expressed optimism for the continuation of the platform in 2027 and beyond.
