University of Geneva

The University of Geneva (UNIGE), in French Université de Genève, is a public university founded in 1559. It is organised in nine faculties and 13 interfaculty centres and institutes, and offers more than 500 study programmes, including bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees, plus over 340 continuing education programmes.

Technology transfer and support for founders sit with Unitec, the university's innovation office, created in 1998. Its list of spin-offs, going back to 1996, names around 80 companies. Unitec runs the proof-of-concept fund innoGAP and, for healthcare projects, the maturation fund innoLIFE. It also brings researchers together with industry, for example in "Meet a Company" sessions with pharmaceutical firms.

Together with the university's Research and Grants Office, Unitec organises the Venture Talks, a series on topics such as fundraising and building a team. It also co-organises the Innosuisse entrepreneurship courses that Venturelab holds at the university.