Newsletter
How can science evolve into a more inclusive, agile, and impact-driven ecosystem? At the MCAA Annual Conference 2025 in Kraków, a dynamic session titled The Future of Science: Bridging Careers, Collaboration & Innovation explored pathways to reimagine scientific careers through entrepreneurship, cross- sector partnerships, and sustainability.
Bridging Boundaries: Careers, Collaboration & Innovation in Science
Held on March 22, 2025, during the MCAA Annual Conference and General Assembly in Kraków, Poland, the session The Future of Science: Bridging Careers, Collaboration & Innovation convened thought leaders from academia and industry to examine the shifting terrain of scientific careers. Organized by the Career Development Working Group (WG), the session emphasized the importance of flexible, collaborative, and mission-driven approaches to scientific work, rooted in global impact and societal relevance.
Opening the session, Sureyya Akyuz, Chair of the Career Development WG, highlighted three guiding themes for rethinking research careers:
- • Career Fluidity: enabling movement between academia, industry, and policy- making,
- • Collaborative Science: fostering interdisciplinary and intersectoral engagement,
- • Sustainable Career Development: aligning scientific goals with frameworks such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Sureyya Akyuz highlighted the instrumental role of the MSCA in facilitating open science, mobility, and systemic transformation. Her address encouraged a departure from rigid institutional silos toward ecosystems that nurture diverse talent and translational research.
From Lab to Market: Deep Tech and the AI Imperative
Aytul Ercil (Co-founder and CEO of Vispera), a distinguished academic and entrepreneur, drew from her experiences founding Vispera and scaling AI-powered retail solutions, to demonstrate how research in computer vision can lead to market-ready innovation.
Her talk spotlighted:
- • The translation of academic research into applied AI solutions, including case studies in visual quality assurance and inventory analytics,
- • Strategies for scaling deep-tech ventures, with emphasis on funding, visionary teams, and navigating investor dynamics,
- • The necessity of ecosystem-level collaboration between universities, startups, and industries to accelerate innovation,
- • The imperative to support gender inclusion in tech entrepreneurship,
- • And a call for researchers to develop entrepreneurial competencies, including IP awareness and data science skills.
Aytul’s Ercil’s central message was unequivocal: sustainable innovation demands collaborative environments where ideas can be tested, refined, and scaled for real-world benefit.
The dual imagery—Sisyphus-like struggle and a motivational cartoon—illustrates the challenges and external pressures faced by researchers, while reinforcing the session’s core message: “It ain’t easy, but it is possible.”
Industrial Doctorates: A Hybrid Model for Innovation
Sohail Saad Luka (Policy Officer, European Commission, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Unit) presented a compelling case for MSCA Industrial PhD programmes as engines of both innovation and career diversity. Through first-hand experiences supervising industrial researchers, he identified how this model enables a unique synergy between academic inquiry and industrial application.
Key takeaways from his talk included:
- • The dual supervision model enhances both theoretical rigor and applied relevance.
- • Industrial doctorates generate mutual value: universities gain real-world relevance, industries access cutting-edge talent, and researchers cultivate multi- sectoral fluency.
- • Institutional frameworks like MSCA COFUND and EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities play a key role in scaffolding these programs.
- • Evaluating doctoral outputs based on competencies, stakeholder engagement, and innovation metrics rather than publications alone.
- • The importance of cultural change in academic settings to value non-linear career trajectories.
Sohail Luka concluded by positioning industrial doctorates as strategic tools for Europe’s knowledge economy, where researchers are seen not just as scholars, but as agents of innovation.
HealthTech, AI, and Entrepreneurial Science: A Vision for Transformative Impact
Keti Zeka (Research Director at Research and Product Consulting Ltd) provided an interdisciplinary vision at the crossroads of HealthTech, AI, and scientific entrepreneurship. Drawing from her own entrepreneurial ventures, she outlined how AI is redefining healthcare delivery and creating space for impact-driven scientific careers.
Highlights of her presentation:
- • AI is emerging as a catalyst for predictive, personalized, and smart healthcare systems.
- • Entrepreneurial science involves embedding translational thinking in research, rather than abandoning academic values.
- • Building a HealthTech startup requires navigating regulatory landscapes, clinical validation, and multidisciplinary leadership.
- • Barriers such as data privacy, algorithmic bias, and legacy system integration must be addressed through ethical and human- centered design.
- • Mentoring underrepresented groups in STEM is essential to build inclusive innovation ecosystems.
Keti Zeka’s message was clear: the future of science demands not only new technologies but also co-designed, equitable systems that amplify societal resilience.
Interactive Reflections: Voices from the Room
The session concluded with a participatory dialogue, led by Sureyya Akyuz, inviting reflections from attendees through live polls and open-floor discussions. The segment provided real-time insights into the evolving needs and aspirations of early-career researchers.
Key observations included:
- • A strong appetite for intersectoral careers, with participants eager to blend academia with industry, policy, or entrepreneurial engagements.
- • Barriers such as limited mentorship, fragmented funding ecosystems, and lack of institutional incentives were frequently cited.
- • A recurring call to strengthen soft skills— communication, digital literacy, and project management—alongside technical expertise.
- • A widespread agreement that inclusive support structures must become the norm, not the exception, in fostering interdisciplinary excellence.
Sureyya Akyuz closed the session by affirming that career development in science is not a one-size-fits-all journey. It is shaped by collaboration, creativity, and courage.
Future-Ready Science Starts with Empowered Researchers
The Future of Science session offered more than a discussion, it provided a strategic framework for redefining what it means to build a career in science today. From AI entrepreneurship to industrial doctorates and HealthTech innovation, the speakers demonstrated that research excellence and societal relevance are not competing goals, but intertwined missions.
Polat Goktas
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MCAA Newsletter Managing Editor
polat.goktas@ucd.ie