In August 2020 the sixth edition of the Industry Perspectives on Innovative Medicine (IPIM) Summer School will take place in Groningen, the Netherlands. IPIM aims to teach students about private sector priorities and the societal impact of their research, in order to help them to become fully equipped translational researchers.

Industry Perspectives on Innovative Medicine (IPIM), is a one-week interactive school for advanced undergraduate and master students who want to learn about the broader, non-academic, setting of biomedical research. The participants in this international Summer School come from all over the world. IPIM provides participants with a unique opportunity to learn from different speakers from the private sector (e.g. Pharma, Drug Development, Biotech, Diagnostics and Food & Nutrition), as well as experts in the areas of Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property Rights, and Research Funding.

Participants gain insight into non-academic decision making processes and the societal value of biomedical research. Additionally, they get experience in implementing new concepts in their research proposals, including customer value, competition, competitive advantage, and team importance.

The week-long school is split between guest speakers, site visits and interactive workshops, where students work in groups guided by experienced business coaches to form a business proposal based on some of their own research. During the final day of IPIM participants present their group proposal as an investor pitch in front of an expert jury. The pitch deemed the most original and commercially viable is awarded a prize.