Connecting science and industry: ‘Researchers meet Innovators’ at TU Berlin (Part 2)
A PhD not only prepares for academic research, there are plenty of opportunities outside of academia to apply soft and hard skills learned during a graduate degree. To educate researchers at the start of their career about opportunities in entrepreneurship and how to transfer knowledge from science to business, the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) and Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin) organised an event ‘Researchers meet Innovators’ on July 11 and 12, 2019 at the TUs incubator. Many graduate students and PhDs, from fields ranging from history and arts to computer science and biotech attended.
In this two-part blog series, we highlight two of the speakers: Markus Schuller and Ben Hartwig and ask them about their thoughts about bridging research and innovation.
Ben Hartwig: science, improv and business
Ben Hartwig is a facilitator, actor and an epigeneticist. During his PhD and Postdoc at the Max-Planck in Cologne he won an audition and joined Germany’s most famous Improv theatre — Springmaus. He performed all over the world and decided to merge his two careers in science and improvisation into one by founding the training company Neuroblitz (www.neuroblitz.de). His workshops, seminars and speeches are interactive and engaging experiences. He currently lives in Cologne and Brussels where he helps institutions and companies with change processes and transition challenges.
Tell us a bit about yourself… you are an actor and a scientist?
That’s right, I have worked as an actor and as a scientist in the past. My expertise is in epigenetics and in applied improvisation. Currently, I work as a facilitator, trainer and coach, who brings together analytical and creative ideas to improve resilience, communication and spontaneity.
- What do you think are the most important needs for scientists?
In my opinion it is curiosity above all. If you stay curious and open to new ideas, every day is full of surprises and growth. The German word for scientist is Wissenschaftler — one who creates knowledge, not one who knows knowledge. These days other qualities are also needed. A scientist today has to communicate well to their peers and to the public to get things done and to transfer knowledge.
- Why is communicating science to the public so relevant?
The Marches for Science have shown that scientists do have a voice. Often it is muffled by endless meetings, contradictory findings and politics. I believe that a scientist today has to be a good communicator to the public, because most scientists are experts in a very small area of knowledge, if their voice remains unheard that knowledge may be lost, or their findings might be used out of context by novices.
- Why did you decide to move from science to business?
There are two main reasons. One is that I love research but do not like writing about it nor finding money for it. The other one was a conversation I had with a senior scientist in China. She said that she still works 16 hours a day and hardly sees her kids. To do that you need a lot of passion and dedication to your work. Neither did I want to give up my theatre career, nor my science career. Finally, I found a way to integrate the two into one.
- How did your science skills help you to build your current business career?
To build my business, I needed a lot of perseverance and many people told me: “No, you can’t. No, we’re not interested.” Each no is like a failed experiment in science — nothing special.
Also, I stay curious and try to learn, to read and to grow every day. I think the hours in the lab are a great training ground for a future career as an entrepreneur.
- How did you contribute at TU Berlin?
In Berlin, I gave a short talk about science and business that included a Q&A session plus a workshop about dealing with failure the following day. I received new thoughts and contacts, and had fruitful conversations and a good time.
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