The PhD+ programme of the University of Pisa aims at fostering innovation and entrepreneurial mindset in Master students, PhDs and academics. It consists of a series of lectures combined with coaching and mentoring activities, given by top-level experts in innovation and technology transfer. Since 2011 it has trained more than 500 participants, which have launched 32 business projects, 23 of which became start ups that, taking part in several business competitions, won more than 40 awards and filed 14 patents. Moreover, 4 out of the 6 spin-off beneficiaries of Horizon 2020 SME Instruments (phase 1) have been launched by the PhD+ programme.
