Op 11 juni 2026 verandert Openluchttheater De Goffert in Nijmegen in het decor van een avond vol ruimtevaart, wetenschap, innovatie en grote dromen. Tijdens De Nacht van de Ruimte gaan inspirerende sprekers in op thema’s als moonshots, duurzaamheid, klimaatverandering, slaap en de toekomst van onze samenleving.
Met bijdragen van onder andere NASA/ESA-expert Philippe Schoonejans, transitiedeskundige Jan Rotmans en klimaatwetenschapper Heleen de Coninck belooft het een bijzondere en extra uitgebreide editie te worden.
Goede ideeën ontstaan vaak precies op het snijvlak van talent, nieuwsgierigheid en ondernemerschap. Daarom delen we graag deze oproep van INNOVATE: de zoektocht naar de Innovatiefste Student van Nederland 2026 is gestart.
Werk jij als student aan een innovatief idee, startup, onderzoek of project met impact? Of begeleid jij als ondernemer, startup of organisatie een student met een bijzonder initiatief? Dan is dit hét moment om die innovatie zichtbaar te maken.
De challenge is bedoeld voor studenten, afstudeerders en studententeams uit heel Nederland die bijdragen aan een slimmere, duurzamere of socialere toekomst. Juist de verbinding tussen onderwijs en ondernemerschap levert vaak verrassende innovaties op; van slimme health-oplossingen tot hightech toepassingen en maatschappelijke vernieuwing.
Deelnemers maken kans op landelijke zichtbaarheid, coaching en mooie prijzen, waaronder een volledig verzorgde innovatiereis naar Silicon Valley of SXSW London 2027. Eerdere deelnemers groeiden door naar succesvolle startups, nieuwe samenwerkingen en waardevolle connecties binnen het innovatie-ecosysteem.
Monthly IP walk-in for health & hightech entrepreneurs. Are you a startup or SME in the health or hightech sector? Every month, we host a free walk-in session where you can get expert advice on Intellectual Property (IP).
Why IP matters
As an entrepreneur, protecting your ideas, technologies, and brand is crucial. Whether you’re developing medical innovations, software, or high-tech devices, having a solid IP strategy can help you secure funding, attract partners, and stay ahead of the competition. From patents and trademarks to design rights and trade secrets—knowing your options can make all the difference.
Meet Rienk Rienksma – IP Advisor at RVO
Rienk is an Intellectual Property advisor at the Netherlands Patent Office. The Netherlands Patent Office is the official body responsible for granting patents in the Netherlands. It supports startups and SMEs with questions about IP rights in the broadest sense—whether it’s patent protection, trademarks, or understanding how to safeguard your innovation roadmap.
The advice is confidential, free of charge, and completely independent—no commercial interests involved.
You’re welcome to just walk in, or if you prefer, you can make an appointment in advance.
Monthly IP walk-in for health & hightech entrepreneurs. Are you a startup or SME in the health or hightech sector? Every month, we host a free walk-in session where you can get expert advice on Intellectual Property (IP).
Why IP matters
As an entrepreneur, protecting your ideas, technologies, and brand is crucial. Whether you’re developing medical innovations, software, or high-tech devices, having a solid IP strategy can help you secure funding, attract partners, and stay ahead of the competition. From patents and trademarks to design rights and trade secrets—knowing your options can make all the difference.
Meet Rienk Rienksma – IP Advisor at RVO
Rienk is an Intellectual Property advisor at the Netherlands Patent Office. The Netherlands Patent Office is the official body responsible for granting patents in the Netherlands. It supports startups and SMEs with questions about IP rights in the broadest sense—whether it’s patent protection, trademarks, or understanding how to safeguard your innovation roadmap.
The advice is confidential, free of charge, and completely independent—no commercial interests involved.
You’re welcome to just walk in, or if you prefer, you can make an appointment in advance.
Treatment of chronic inflammatory disease has advanced from symptom management to disease control, yet many patients still face incomplete responses, relapse, and treatment dependence. Subclinical inflammation and tissue injury often persist—driving cumulative damage and impacting patients’ quality of life.
J&J invites you to an event focused on the next paradigm shift: moving beyond inflammation control to enable “deep healing,” where tissue structure, barrier integrity, and homeostatic set points are restored to support durable, meaningful outcomes for patients.
While controlling inflammation aids healing, deeper recovery requires more than just anti-inflammatory approaches. Complementary pathways with a direct role in repair are needed to promote sustained and durable remission. Several emerging areas of biology focused on restoration of epithelial barriers and/or modulation of peripheral neuro-immune signaling pathways, are emerging as novel opportunities.
Join us in Brussels or virtually to discuss promising innovations in this field and how we might collaborate across the European life sciences ecosystem to bring these innovations to patients.
The program is tailored to academic innovators and startups in autoimmune disease who are interested in collaborative opportunities related to repair in chronic inflammatory conditions including gut, skin, lung and rheumatic conditions. We also welcome VCs, TTOs, and incubators with a portfolio of innovators or startups.
If we invited you to sift through more than 160 million patent publications, you would probably give up quickly. But what if we told you that the knowledge contained in patent publications can save you time and money in your innovation process? In this workshop, you will take your first steps in assessing the novelty of your idea and in determining whether you risk infringing on other people’s patents.
But you will learn more than that. Patent databases are a source of inspiration: you can extract a lot from them, such as information about new technologies and information about competitors. These databases can also help you assess the novelty of your invention and give you an indication of whether you may be infringing on other people’s patents (Freedom-to-Operate), before you decide to apply for a patent. Freedom-to-Operate will also definitely come up when you speak with investors. Part of this information can be retrieved yourself from Espacenet, the patent database you will be working with in this workshop.
This workshop is part of The Gate Academy and is taught by Rienk Rienksma and Paul Simons, Intellectual Property Advisors at the Netherlands Patent Office.
Due to the practical exercises, you will need your own laptop or tablet with a large screen to participate.
Op 28 april is de campagne van Octrooicentrum Nederland gestart, in het kader van World IP Day met het thema IP en sport. Onder de slogan “Achter elke prestatie zit waardevolle innovatie” wordt het belang van innovatie in de sportwereld benadrukt.
Innovaties in (top)sport beginnen vaak met technologische doorbraken. Denk aan slimme materialen, geavanceerde trainingsmethoden of data-analyses die prestaties verbeteren. Met een doordachte strategie voor intellectueel eigendom (IE) kun je deze innovaties beschermen en jezelf een winnende voorsprong geven.
Octrooicentrum Nederland ondersteunt ondernemers bij het maken van strategische keuzes rondom IE. Keuzes die aansluiten bij jouw innovatie, onderneming en markt.
Circulariteit leeft in onze regio, en dat zie je terug in de nominaties voor de Cirkel Awards 2026.
Mooi om te zien dat twee bedrijven op Noviotech Campus die vanuit Briskr zijn aangedragen, een plek hebben gekregen in de top 10 van de Cirkel Awards: Itec en TropIQ Health Sciences. Twee innovatieve bedrijven die ieder op hun eigen manier laten zien hoe technologie, ondernemerschap en duurzaamheid samenkomen.
Wat de Cirkel Awards zo sterk maakt, is de brede mix aan ondernemers en initiatieven die genomineerd zijn. Van health en hightech tot events, materialen, productie en maatschappelijke impact; circulair ondernemen krijgt in steeds meer sectoren een concrete plek.
Ook de andere genomineerden laten zien hoeveel mooie initiatieven er in de regio ontstaan: – Stichting Vierdaagsefeesten/Stichting ACBN – Atelier Meer² – Battery Fact – Excluton – HKS The Metal Company – Kegro Deuren – Solutions on Silicon BV
En bij de Startup Cirkel: – Angel Soaps – Monkey Vision – GloedNieuw – PID Atelier – Stichting Van Hier – The Flavour Company
Op 1 juni worden de awards uitgereikt tijdens het Lifeport Festival Circulair. Een mooi podium voor ondernemers die laten zien dat innovatie en circulariteit steeds vaker hand in hand gaan. Meer weten of alvast tickets bemachtigen? Klik hier.
The Business Angels Network Nijmegen (BANN) is an initiative from Briskr and OostNL to connect angel investors with promising startups in health and hightech in the metropole region Arnhem-Nijmegen. In three events per year 12 startups in total are giving the opportunity to pitch their business idea and investment opportunity to an audience of interested investors. The normal range of investment is between 50K to 500K but in some cases a combination can be made with other investment channels. The event is invite only.
The meetings are held a Slot Doddendael in Ewijk (next to Nijmegen), start around 16:00 and are combined with dinner until 20:00.
For investors
The BANN is a network of 80+ investors interested in health and hightech sectors. Of these usually around 20 investors are present during the meetings. Before the meeting you will receive information about the startups to determine if a visit is justified. Beside the investment opportunities the BANN is also a social gathering including plenty of opportunity to network with other angels during dinner.
For startups
In order to ensure interesting investment opportunities for the investors we have a selection and support process in place. One of the obligated elements for the startups in this proces is a valuation workshop. The four startups selected for each meeting are also supported with advice on patents, certification, legal aspects etc as well as an intensive pitch training.
Click on this link to read more information. BANN is supported by the partners of Briskr: BDO, Briskr, EP&C, Gemeente Nijmegen, JLABS, Oost NL, Qserve, Rabobank Rijk van Nijmegen and The Economic Board.
Jointly organized by Radboudumc, Briskr, Oost NL, and Radboud University: the main match-making event for top researchers, entrepreneurs and investors in the life sciences & health sector. Exchange knowledge, network and speak to investors about (future) cooperation early on. Our goal is to improve the impact on healthcare.
The main objective of this day is to make new contacts. For that we are using a matchmaking platform to set up 1-on-1 meetings.
A balanced selection of scientists, investors, and entrepreneurs shares their stories so that all attendees could learn from each other.
