Erasmus MC
Rotterdam is an emerging world leader in the healthcare and medical industry. The Erasmus Medical Center is the largest university medical center in the Netherlands and No. 1 in Europe for clinical research.
Rotterdam is part of the Medical Delta initiative. This initiative is driven by the synergy of the universities of Leiden, Rotterdam and Delft. Located within a radius of 14 km, the partners have an increasing number of major collaborative efforts based on their complementary expertise. The three internationally renowned scientific institutions play a prominent role in research and development projects in the area of life sciences by combining medical expertise and engineering excellence:
- Joint educational programs currently include Biomedical Engineering, Life Science & Technology, Bioinformatics, and the Holland Program on Entrepreneurship.
- Joint research schools are active in research areas such as Interdisciplinary Physics and Biotechnology.
- A range of public-private programs support the Medical Delta initiative. In these programs, Medical Delta academic partners team up with industrial partners to achieve scientific as well as commercial goals.
- Realizing joint infrastructure is an important goal for the Medical Delta partners.
Medical Delta believes that engineers, medical professionals and entrepreneurs together are able to find more effective, safe and efficient solutions to treat patients.
Entrepreneurs are of vital importance to move the newly developed medical technology from idea or academic prototype to the market, where it can benefit healthcare. In Rotterdam, numerous opportunities are created for entrepreneurs from large and small businesses .
To accelerate the development of start-ups and early-stage high-tech companies, Rotterdam provides strategic advice, operational guidance and access to the facilities of Erasmus MC for prototype development. Erasmus MC has a department for the valorization of knowledge – the Technology Transfer Office – which helps researchers and medical departments move from idea to a license and through to sale or the establishment of an Erasmus MC company. In addition, Rotterdam offers office space in the so-called incubators.