The CATOLICA-LISBON Entrepreneurship Center (CLEC) is CATOLICA-LISBON's new knowledge center, which, by focusing on promoting entrepreneurship, aims to strengthen research and learning in order to empower students while establishing CATOLICA-LISBON as a central player in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
"CLEC is developing the fundamental work of the Center for Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CTIE) from 2018 to 2023. Consequently, CLEC will be the main platform for supporting and promoting the School's entrepreneurship agenda," says Pierre Gein, CLEC's Executive Director.
According to João Cotter Salvado, CLEC's Academic Director, in essence, "CLEC is structured around three fundamental pillars linked to entrepreneurship: (1) Promoting research excellence, (2) Empowering students and (3) Connecting the School to the Ecosystem. The macro-activities will be structured around these pillars".
The "Promoting research excellence" pillar is focused on raising the quality and the impact of research, on promoting interdisciplinary studies, on building international research networks, on actively sharing knowledge with society and on facilitating academic events aligned with CATÓLICA-LISBON's academic standards. Under this pillar, several activities are planned, which includes encouraging research collaborations; fostering interdisciplinary collaborations within CATÓLICA-LISBON, with the Portuguese Catholic University, as well as with external partners and, in a broader sense, with the Ecosystem. In addition, it aims to encourage research projects that combine entrepreneurship with other areas of knowledge and align interests with third parties (for example, through funding or data provision) and networking with other entrepreneurship research centers, as well as, among others, developing meaningful relationships with other entrepreneurship centers and research institutions around the world.
On the other hand, under the "Empowering students" pillar, CLEC's main goal is to equip students with the necessary knowledge, skills and mindset to succeed in entrepreneurial ventures. "Through practical learning experiences, mentoring programs and the exposure to real projects, students are prepared to become better future entrepreneurs, innovators and business leaders. In this context, for example, there is a pre-acceleration program - "Forward!" - which, through a series of sessions, will allow students to apply for an accelerator program and continue their journey to build something impressive enough to raise money on a larger scale," says João Cotter Salvado.
Finally, in accordance with the third pillar "Connecting the School to the Ecosystem", CLEC also aims to establish CATÓLICA-LISBON as a central and influential figure on the entrepreneurial scene, identifying and taking advantage of opportunities for collaboration and therefore increasing the visibility of the School and its contribution to entrepreneurship.