Industry visit provides stem cell researchers with first-hand experience

As a scientist working at a university or university hospital it is often difficult to gain insight into how industrial companies operate and the professional network can be limited to contacts within the academic field. Therefore, the Stem Cell Network NRW aims to offer stem cell researchers in North Rhine-Westphalia insights into small and large stem cell-related companies. Through these, stem cell researchers can gain deeper insights into the field of research of the respective company and the site visit facilitates establishing personal contacts for future collaborations as well as career opportunities.

15 stem cell scientists from all over North Rhine-Westphalia (even from Bielefeld!) seized the opportunity and joined the company visit to PL BioScience on March 16, which had been organized by the Stem Cell Network NRW. Since the biotech company PL BioScience was founded recently in 2015 as a RWTH Aachen University spin-off, a main focus of the visit was on how to found a company. The CEOs gave a lot of insight and shared their personal experience, which was very much appreciated by the participants. They also used the opportunity to ask many questions on the founding process and its potential hurdles. Other talks were from two researchers at PL BioScience who explained some of the differences between working at the university and in a company. The company visit finished with a joint lunch which offered more opportunities for personal exchange with the company members.