TILT Research Entrepreneurship Programme · Expose · Autumn 2026
Is there another path for you and your research?
Eight Wednesday afternoons to take your research out of the lab and into conversation with the people who might actually need it — and to find out whether you want to be the one who brings it to them.
Run by VIS for researchers at UiB, HVL, NHH, the Institute of Marine Research and Helse Bergen.
What this is
What helps nobody is good work that never leaves the drawer
The TILT Research Entrepreneurship Programme exists to get research out of the lab and to the people it could help. There is more than one way out: taken up by an organisation that already exists, or built into a new company. TILT Research is for researchers drawn to the second route — or wondering whether it could be theirs.
Expose is the front door to that journey. It is built for researchers who are curious about what their research could become, but not yet ready to commit to building a company.
Over eight Wednesdays you will work to answer two questions honestly:
- Does anyone outside the lab feel this problem strongly enough to change what they do about it?
- Do you want to be the person who brings them the solution?
Working sessions where you learn by doing, alongside the others in the room, on your own project rather than a case study.
This run: autumn 2026
Applications close Sunday 27 September 2026- When
- Wednesdays 12:30–15:30, 14 October – 9 December
- How much
- Eight sessions of three hours, plus your own work in between
- Where
- VIS, Marineholmen, Bergen — venue to confirm
- Cost
- No fee, and no obligation to start a company at the end
- Places
- Limited, and offered on a rolling basis
What you will actually do
Eight Wednesday afternoons, in three moves
Eight afternoons to find out whether anyone outside your field has a problem your research could solve — and feels it strongly enough to do something about it. The sessions are working sessions on your own project, not lectures: a short input, then the work, then what you found since last time. Most of the progress happens between them, in conversations you arrange yourself.
Sessions 1–2 · October
Start, and find out who needs it
You see it done by someone who has already done it, then start the conversations that matter — not showing people your technology, but asking what problem they already have and what it costs them.
- Wed 14Company 101
- Wed 21Who has the problem
You leave with the problem your research could solve in one plain sentence, your assumptions about it written down, and real conversations booked.
Sessions 3–5 · October to November
Turn what you heard into decisions
Not everyone at once: one group you can actually reach and win first, what you are worth to the people who decide, and an honest read on what the project still needs.
- Wed 28Choosing who to start with
- Wed 4Why you, and who decides
- Wed 11Team, timing and IP
You leave with a first group chosen and a number behind the choice, a value proposition you have said out loud, and your biggest gap named.
Sessions 6–8 · November to December
Tell it to a room that can help it go further
The same material, rebuilt so someone outside your field follows it and remembers it — drafted, rehearsed, then delivered to an invited room of investors, mentors and people from across the institutions.
- Wed 25Telling the story
- Wed 2Pitch training
- Wed 9The Christmas Pitch
You leave with a pitch that has survived a dry run, a certificate from VIS, and your project in front of the investors, mentors and potential partners who could help take it further.
You work on your own project throughout — there are no case studies.
Applications close Sunday 27 September and places are offered as we go, so applying early is worth it. Registering your interest takes two minutes and only means we tell you when the next run opens.
The deal, both ways
Who it is for, what you get, and what we ask
Open to researchers at UiB, HVL, NHH, HI and Helse Bergen — any position, from PhD candidate to professor — with a research-based project you are willing to take forward. No experience of entrepreneurship needed, and your project does not have to be novel or patentable. Apply alone or as a team.
What you get
- A proven method — Disciplined Entrepreneurship and TILT's DE Compass tool, on your own project rather than a case study.
- Working sessions, not lectures — you leave with a defined first market, a value proposition tested on real people, an honest read on how ready you are, and a pitch that works outside academia.
- A cohort, and founders who have done it — including a TILT company now expanding internationally.
- Visibility with invited investors and institutions at the Christmas Pitch, and help getting funding-ready.
- A certificate from VIS, no fee, and no obligation to start a company at the end.
What we ask
- Eight sessions of three hours — Wednesdays 12:30–15:30, 14 October to 9 December.
- Your own work in between — talking to people outside the lab. That time is yours to arrange, and it is where most of the progress happens.
- Protect the time. For some that is your own call; for others it means squaring it with a supervisor or manager.
- Applying as a team? One team member in the room every Wednesday; the work between sessions can be shared.
How selection works
You do not have to already be a founder to get in
The application is deliberately short. What matters most about a participant — how they commit, how they take feedback, what they do when an assumption does not survive contact with the real world — cannot be read off a form. It shows during the eight weeks, and that is where we look for it.
Application
Short and online. Keep to the word limits — brevity is part of the exercise.
Interview
We read every application; shortlisted candidates are invited to a short conversation.
Rolling offer
Places are limited and we select as we go, so applying early is worth it.
What participants say
“I don’t want Anchora to remain an interesting idea. I want to learn how to turn it into a proper company.”
Guillaume PonceletAnchora
“We joined TILT to strengthen our knowledge of the entrepreneurial expertise needed to reach our goals.”
Valeriya LyssenkoDiaZERO
“For us, TILT is about lifting the project from research into something concrete — and at the same time gaining new perspectives through structure, guidance and collaboration.”
Lydia BoyleTREco
Find out whether there is another path for you and your research
Applications close Sunday 27 September 2026, and we make offers as we go.
Curious about entrepreneurship but without a research project to bring? Komet is our digital platform and community for researchers, students and makers — with or without an idea.
Questions
How much time does it take?
Eight sessions of three hours, one a week, on Wednesday afternoons from 12:30 to 15:30, between 14 October and 9 December. On top of that comes the work on your own project in between — talking to people outside the lab and working through what you learn. That time is yours to arrange in your own way, and it is where most of the progress happens.
Who can apply?
Researchers affiliated with a research faculty of one of VIS's five owners — the University of Bergen, HVL, NHH, the Institute of Marine Research and Helse Bergen — who have a research-based project they are willing to take forward. Every position is eligible: professor, associate professor, researcher, postdoc or PhD candidate. You can apply alone or as a team.
Does my project have to be novel, or patented?
No. We are not assessing how novel your research is, and a filed DOFI or patent is not a requirement. An improvement on technology that already exists can make an excellent company. What matters is that there is a real research-based project, and that you are willing to go and hear what the people outside the lab say about it.
Do I need experience of entrepreneurship?
No. Expose is built for researchers with no previous experience of innovation or entrepreneurship. The sessions are hands-on and use a proven method — Disciplined Entrepreneurship — applied directly to your own project rather than to a case study.
What does it cost, and what am I committing to?
There is no fee, and no obligation to start a company at the end. What you commit to is the time: being in the room on Wednesdays and doing the work in between. Before you apply, make sure you can protect that time — for some that is your own call, for others it means squaring it with a supervisor or manager.
What happens in each session?
The eight Wednesdays build on each other. The first is a graduate's story — a TILT researcher and the CEO who built the company with him. Then you go out of the lab and into conversation with the people who might need your work, segment what you hear and choose one market to go after first, sharpen the value proposition and take an honest read on how ready your project is. The last two sessions are storytelling and pitch training, and it finishes with the Christmas Pitch on 9 December, in front of an invited audience.
What happens after Expose?
Expose is the front door to the wider TILT Research Entrepreneurship Programme, and projects that show they are ready go on to a longer phase of support. That onward route is subject to funding, so we are not promising it — a place is earned through the work you put into Expose and is not guaranteed. You also get help finding commercial capacity and getting funding-ready, and a certificate of completion from VIS when you have taken part in all eight sessions, including presenting at the Christmas Pitch, and done the work in between.
Will Expose run again if I cannot make this autumn?
Expose is designed to run more than once, so if the autumn does not work for you it is worth registering your interest anyway — we will tell you when the next run opens.
