Tag: academic

Thriving Together: Ease2pay’s Collaborative Path with Erasmus Enterprise

Posted on by Sthephanie Angela

In a celebration of innovation and collaborative spirit, Ease2pay, founded by Gijs van Lookeren Campagne and Jan Borghuis, has been honored with the Erasmus Enterprise Community Award during the Opening of Entrepreneurial Year 2023. This award highlights the strong sense of teamwork and shared progress while being part of the Erasmus Enterprise community in the last year. Gijs van Lookeren Campagne and Jan Borghuis remarked, “We have never felt as at home as in the past year being part of Erasmus Enterprise.“

 Ease2pay Self-Service solution

Ease2pay was founded in 2017 by Jan Borghuis and Gijs van Lookeren Campagne. Their mission is to create a self-service platform, where services can be used at any time of the day. For Ease2pay, self-service is not just a matter of convenience; it’s an essential driver of the energy transition, particularly in sectors like charging stations where it’s vital for profitability and consumer control. Their all-in-one app allows users to effortlessly interact with services like ports, car parks, and petrol stations. Simplifying self-service options for users, driving us towards a more sustainable society. 

The Synergy between Erasmus Enterprise and Ease2pay

What sets the Community Award apart is the connection between Ease2pay and the Erasmus Enterprise community. As one of the pioneering scale-ups, Ease2pay found its home in the Erasmus Enterprise building over two years ago on the Erasmus University campus, a hub of entrepreneurship and innovation. Here, they have been able to engage directly with students, immersing them in their transformative work. Furthermore, in the past years Ease2pay has contributed significantly to the startup community by participating as coaches in the Erasmus University Challenge and engaging in insightful speed dates with budding entrepreneurs. These experiences provided valuable perspectives on overcoming challenges of starting a business, leaving a lasting impact in our entrepreneurs’ ecosystem.

This dynamic connection between Ease2pay and Erasmus Enterprise showcases the power of collaboration and support in advancing innovative ventures. Erasmus Enterprise combines essential elements for a thriving startup environment, uniting resources and multi-disciplinary expertise from Rotterdam and Delft, offering an ideal and thriving environment for entrepreneurial journeys. This partnership, then, underlines the essence of Erasmus Enterprise: fostering an environment where entrepreneurs can thrive, innovate, and make a positive impact on society. It is through seamless interactions and collaborative events that we create dynamic network spaces, driving meaningful impact in the entrepreneurs’ community.

Join the Erasmus University Challenge and be part of a vibrant community where academia, students, government, companies, and organizations collaborate to drive innovation, entrepreneurship, and co-creation! 

Click here to learn more about Erasmus University Challenge!

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BIG’R: Academics Creating Impact Through Research

Posted on by Johanna

In a world faced with pressing environmental and social challenges, organizations like BIG’R – Behavioral Insights Group Rotterdam – are leading the way in creating positive change. BIG’R is an impact center that combines scientific knowledge, behavioral insights, and practical interventions to make a significant societal impact. At BIG’R, their focus lies on conducting field experiments and studies to apply behavioral insights and scientific knowledge in practice. Inge Merkelbach, Managing Director of BIG’R, explains, “We try to make a positive societal impact with our scientific knowledge, our methods, and we use it by studying behavior and designing interventions, studying them in practice.” This blog dives into the journey of BIG’R, their challenges, successes, and shows how it is possible for academics to create impact through research.  

From collaboration to impact center  

Semiha Denktas, the academic supervisor of BIG’R, drew inspiration from the behavioral Insights team in London, UK, which was the first one to bring together municipalities, governments, and universities. Recognizing the potential benefits for a city like Rotterdam, with its challenges of poverty and great multiculturalism, Denktas saw an opportunity for a Behavioral Insights team. Thus, BIG’R emerged through a collaboration between the municipality of Rotterdam and Erasmus University Rotterdam. “We started out as a team with people from the municipality and scientists that developed the working method through trial and error, reading literature, what steps are necessary and having to learn each other’s languages”, shares Inge.  

The collaboration lasted for four years and, even though it was evaluated very positively, it had to stop when no more funding was available. That is when BIG’R restarted as an independent impact center of Erasmus Research & Business Support (ERBS) at the University. Inge reflects on their journey, stating, “We had a whole strategy developed on how to deal with these questions in practice, and we noticed there was still a lot of need for insights and practices, so we thought it would be a shame to throw it all out.” 

ERBS played a crucial role in supporting the establishment of BIG’R as an independent impact center. Inge acknowledges their contribution: “ERBS really offered us a nice opportunity. They offered us the possibility to restart in a safe space with a lot of support for us to start this BIG’R 2.0, as an independent impact center. Without the ERBS I don’t think we could have restarted, because it would be too big of a risk.” Inge acknowledges the value of being able to experiment with this way of working within the academic setting. 

BIG’R Main Challenges 

One of the main challenges BIG’R faced was effectively putting science into practice and communicating scientific insights to stakeholders with diverse backgrounds. Inge shares that it was challenging to communicate scientific thoughts and insights towards people that are not necessarily used to that kind of language and highlights the importance of bridging the gap, “You have to learn each other’s language. Public policy officials have a very different language than scientists, sometimes also a very different way of thinking.”  

Additionally, combining different research methods and convincing other scientists of the value of unconventional approaches posed further challenges. “I think we were in the forefront and that was a challenge. But fortunately, there’s a growing movement towards more Impact and more multi-method research”, mentions Inge. But with time and hard work, BIG’R was able to get trust and find the right collaborations, completing some projects, becoming known and achieving great successes. 

 

Creating change   

One of BIG’R’s notable successes was their study on reducing speed limits in Rotterdam. Inge proudly tells, “We recently did a study looking into reducing the speed limit from 50 to 30 kilometers per hour in Rotterdam”. How do you get the motorists to comply with the new speed limit? BIG’R has developed various interventions for this, such as a specific way of placing the speed signs, so that motorists are effectively made aware of their speed.

The image represents the reduction of speed limits from 50 to 30 kilometers per hour in Rotterdam

 “The municipality has taken our advice and started implementing this citywide, making the city safer and healthier for everyone”, shares the interviewee. “So that really gives me a big drive, that you can change something in your city right away and a lot of people will notice, and you can create positive contribution.” 

Inge offers valuable advice for peers in academia who aspire to make a similar impact. She encourages them, “Don’t be scared and be open to methods and new ways of working…”. Scientists are mostly trained in a classical way of researching: how do you conduct a perfect experiment? Inge reflects that this way of working keeps scientists from touching on real, important societal topics that are not easily studied. So, her advice? “Be brave, creative, and willing to make some mistakes. For sure people will comment on your research methods and say they are not perfect. But just do it and try to find the right partners”.  

BIG’R is an inspiring impact center that harnesses scientific knowledge, behavioral insights, and practical interventions to drive positive change in society. Their journey, with the support of ERBS, showcases that it is possible for academics to turn research into positive societal impact and how they are committed to making a lasting impact. ERBS offers ambitious and passionate scientists a safe space for them to valorize their innovative ideas. Despite challenges, BIG’R has achieved significant successes and encourages peers to embrace creativity and bravery in their pursuit of societal impact. 

Breaking barriers: How an academic entrepreneur is creating impact

Posted on by Johanna
Erasmus Enterprise has recently welcomed Iris Casteren van Cattenburch and Sonja Wendel, incorporating into our community The Human Stuff, their narrative-based research consultancy for creating cultures of care. Their journey demonstrates that it is possible to combine academia with entrepreneurship and turn research into positive societal impact. In an interview, Iris shared the exhilarating journey of building their business, along with the challenges they had to overcome. 

 
The Human Stuff helps organisations focus on the human element, thus improving the health of people and of the organisation. “Our premise is that every human being needs to be seen and heard to feel a sense of belonging. In this way they commit themselves to the vision, mission, and goals of the organisation,” shared Iris. By using an age-old learning tool that is accessible to everyone, our human ability to tell stories, they encourage customers and employees to cultivate a constructive and mutually beneficial human culture.  
 

Asked about how this journey to enter entrepreneurship as an academic was, Iris answered that for her it was not as challenging as for Sonja. “I have been self-employed as a communications strategist since 1999, so entrepreneurship is my starting point. I also combined my PhD research with my professional career,” told Iris. She developed her dissertation into a method to apply Shakespeare to organisational and sustainability challenges and became an associate researcher at GovernEUR, one of the impact centers of Erasmus Research & Business Support (ERBS) at the Erasmus University to add the narrative-based approach to their qualitative research projects in public administration. The director of ERBS, Laurien Poleij, connected her with Sonja. 

Sonja is an assistant professor and teacher at the Erasmus University Rotterdam (School of Economics) and senior researcher at the Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing. One of her main research objectives is to prioritise health and well-being, drawing on human experiences captured in stories. She passionately believes that connecting inter-disciplinary theories and practices can stimulate out-of-the-box thinking and enhance academic research to create impact. Sonja and Iris shared passion for stories and the impact they can have, by using them as interventions for improving organisational cultures, made them take the leap and embark on a business adventure together. 

Their biggest challenge was to develop the steps of their business process into something clear and understandable for their potential clients. Nevertheless, the support of ERBS, and from the business developers of Erasmus Enterprise (EE) and Erasmus Research Services (ERS) helped them overcome this hurdle. Their innovative research activities are developing into a promising business and have now become a separate BV under the umbrella of Erasmus Enterprise. Iris shared that being part of the Erasmus Enterprise community is inspiring for the entrepreneurial spirit everyone breathes. “No matter what age, position or background; it’s a community of skilled intellectual doers who want to make a positive change in the world.”  

The inspiring journey of these women serves as proof that although combining being an academic and entrepreneur can be a challenge, it is within reach with the appropriate support and perseverance. Their advice for fellow academics that want to do the same? “If you want to make a change, it’s worth your venture!” 

Iris and Sonja from The Human Stuff with Ernst from Erasmus Enterprise
The Human Stuff signing 16 March-3
The Human Stuff signing 16 March-4
Iris and Sonja from The Human Stuff with Ernst from Erasmus Enterprise
Iris and Sonja build The Human Stuff and combine academia with entrepreneurship
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Empowering Academics to Innovate: The Impact Starting Guide by Erasmus Enterprise 

Posted on by Johanna

Erasmus Enterprise launches The Impact Starting Guide on April 3, 2023 with Erasmus Research Services with the aim to provide academics with tools, bringing their ideas into actionable plans that drive societal impact. The first copy of the guide was presented to Ed Brinksma, President of the Executive Board at Erasmus University Rotterdam, marking the beginning of its distribution. 

Download The Impact Starting Guide!​

“The Impact Starting Guide is an invitation for academics to accelerate their impact by reaching out to researchers or enterprises with ambitions and ideas…. We aim to make everyone feel safe in taking this fun and exciting journey to accelerate their efforts” – Bas van der Noll  

Erasmus Enterprise is committed to fostering an entrepreneurial mindset among academics and providing the necessary resources to them for success. Establishing impact is a combination of research and people who are proactive. With the right resources and tools academics can develop innovative solutions and create a lasting social impact.   

The Impact Starting Guide – What is in it for you?  

First, The Erasmus Impact Guide can provide you with practical advice to overcome common challenges and inspire you to head start your journey to make change. Secondly, it can determine your current position in your journey and guide your vision. Lastly, identify the needed support and provide you with the rightful information. 

The guide is set up to direct academics to navigate through various stages of research and development, enabling them to achieve maximum impact in their respective fields. It helps researchers identify potential problems within their ideas and validate them, providing them direction on solution development. Team and partner building are another aspect, distinguishing potential partnerships and defining the right composition. Additionally, it provides objective on initiating fundraising and funding activities.  

Taking initiative is crucial to achieving positive societal impact beyond research, as continuous initiative and dedication is essential to accomplishing it. The Impact Starting Guide will guide you to realise your potential as an entrepreneur and begin your journey. Empower yourself to create a better future by downloading The Impact Starting Guide and take the next steps towards impactful entrepreneurship and co-creation. 

Download The Impact Starting Guide!​

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