EQUS–FLEET Idea Factory 2022

EQUS–FLEET Idea Factory 2022

The Idea Factory is an annual event run by EQUS and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies (FLEET).  It is designed to provide training and networking opportunities to early career researchers.

The 2022 workshop will be delivered by Cruxes Innovation and you will learn a new way of translating your research and ideas into impact.

When: Monday 7 November to Wednesday 9 November 2022

The program will be run in-person over three days. If you’re accepted to participate in the program, the Centres will cover the cost of your travel, accommodation and meals.  You’ll arrive mid-morning on Monday, the program will commence after lunch on Monday and run all day Tuesday, and Wednesday morning. You’ll leave mid-afternoon on Wednesday.

Day 1 – afternoon: 1300 – 1630 (break at 1430)
Day 2 – morning: 0900-1145 (break at 1030).  Afternoon cohort session: 1220-1415.  1415-1945: small-group 30-minute coaching sessions.
Day 3 – morning: 0900-1220 (break at 1050).

Where: Breakfree Grand Pacific Caloundra

Who: The Idea Factory is suitable for all EQUS PhD Students (2nd year +) and Postdoctoral Research Fellows.

What: Attendees will participate in Cruxes Base Intensive program, a professional development program run over three days that equips you with the skills and mindset to discover the massive potential of your invention or research project to make a positive difference in the world.

This in-person training and coaching program will help you develop practical tools and an action plan for turning your ideas and research into impact.

You will be introduced to powerful tools and frameworks that will shine new light on your pathway to impact for your current work, and for every research project you will undertake in the future.

The program also gives you time to “get out of the building” and gather information about:

• The problem your research aims to solve
• The people who care most about this problem
• The people whose support you need to deliver a solution based on your research
• The most important aspects of the solution to develop, and
• The first versions of the “value proposition” your research offers in solving this problem.

You will come away with the ability to confidently present to stakeholders the impact potential of your idea and likely pathways to impact.

In addition to providing you with training and development, the Idea Factory will provide you with an opportunity to:

• Network with colleagues from other nodes and/or a cognate Centre
• Kick-start a proposal for an EQUS or FLEET collaboration grant
• Prepare yourself for applications for your Centre’s research translation funding

What do I do to apply?

Applications closed 7 October at 5pm (QLD time). 

Successful applicants will be notified Tuesday 11 October.

Further Information
Your research and capabilities have huge potential to make a positive difference in the world.  They can improve our economy, our environment, our society and culture, or all of these. There are a number of pathways to creating research impact, including partnering with industry, government and community groups.  Our research training also gives us transferable skills that have great value to a wide variety of potential employers. 

What will I learn from the Base Intensive program?

The Base Intensive program gives you skills and tools to:

• Identify and validate the potential impact of your idea through the lens of end-users, beneficiaries, and stakeholders in industry, government and the community
• Develop and refine your impact story
• Articulate and iterate the problem your research or idea solves, and the value of your idea in solving that problem.

During the program, you’ll be introduced to these tools and skills, and you’ll immediately get practice applying them to your research project or idea, and feedback on the results. 

What will the program be like?

This highly interactive program will see you get hands-on with the various components of exploring the impact potential of your idea or research. You will participate in simulations and work on your own idea under the guidance of expert facilitators. You’ll develop strategies and learn tools for identifying and validating the impact of your idea, including:

• Drawing on your own experience skills and those of the people around you
• Applying tools derived from lean startup, innovation, and design thinking
• Understanding how to speak to stakeholders to gain insights
• Progressing your idea towards relevance and value
• Effectively communicating the problem you are solving and the impact potential of your idea.

Who is the program for?
Base Intensive is for FLEET and EQUS HDRs and ECRs, working on any research topic, at any stage of their research projects, who are interested in making a positive difference in the world with their research and capabilities. 

What’s the program structure?

Who’s delivering the Base Intensive program?
The Base Intensive program is designed and delivered by Cruxes Innovation.  Cruxes helps researchers, research organisations and universities unlock the huge potential of Australian research to make a positive difference in the world.  We believe that the best way to do this is to give researchers themselves the skills and support to drive partnerships with industry, community and government.  Since it was launched in early 2020, Cruxes has delivered similar programs to over 750 Australian researchers at 30 Australian universities in all fields, at all stages of their careers and research projects.  Cruxes has been working with FLEET and EQUS since late 2020.