New co-management at UCPH Lighthouse
The University of Copenhagen has adopted a 2030 strategy to strengthen innovation and contribute more to solving societal challenges An important element of the new strategy is a strengthening of Lighthouse, which will soon have 40 employees working with spinouts, commercialisation, innovation competencies and partnerships across the entire University.
To handle the many new tasks in Lighthouse in the coming years, it has been decided to strengthen the management with two new co-managers, Karin Beukel and Sannie Fisker, who will form the joint management of Lighthouse together with Marius Sylvestersen
"At Lighthouse, we believe that more brains are a strength in creating innovation, especially when it's people from different disciplines and backgrounds Now we're taking our own medicine and creating a new joint co-management team with three equal managers. I think this will be a great advantage in fulfilling our ambitions to be a strong interdisciplinary innovation centre for the entire University,’ says Marius Sylvestersen
Karin and Sannie already work at Lighthouse and focus on helping researchers with commercialisation and students and teachers with strengthening their entrepreneurial skills, respectively
"At the University of Copenhagen, research is created that is essential to solving society's challenges Supporting the conversion of research into new solutions for society, for example through entrepreneurship, is KU Lighthouse's expertise - an expertise that requires a multifaceted approach in terms of team, IP, market maturation, competition, etc. I'm very excited to lead a team of really talented and committed innovation partners who are all passionate about realising that mission And I hope that I might be able to utilise some of my own experiences as both a researcher and an entrepreneur,’ says Karin Beukel
Together with the other colleagues in the department and from the rest of UCPH, they will now contribute to creating closer collaboration between the university, the business community and the ecosystem, as well as creating a meaningful integration of innovation in teaching and supporting more initiatives to ensure that all students and researchers - regardless of subject domain - have the opportunity to strengthen their innovation competences
"Society's challenges demand that we educate people with strong innovation skills - not only those who want to be entrepreneurs, but also those who will drive change in the public sector, in private companies and in civil societyLighthouse has a unique opportunity to give all students and teachers at UCPH the tools they need to create real social change,’ says Sannie Fisker
Karin Beukel is a former Assistant Professor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management here at UCPH, and has started the food company ‘Agrain by Circular Food Technology’ and the consultancy ‘The IPR Company’, which specialises in IP Karin holds a PhD from CBS and has previously been a visiting professor at Harvard Business School. Karin has also previously been named one of the 25 Danish women entrepreneurs you should know
Sannie Fisker joined Lighthouse in October last year from DTU For the past 10 years, Sannie has contributed to strengthening the ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship, where she has helped establish DTU Skylab and DTU Entrepreneurship. Sannie has also previously worked at the Danish Business Authority and as a national expert at the European Commission.
Contact: Marius Sylvestersen on +45 2193 6520