How to start

Are you having problems searching for information and inspiration for your innovation projects? Don’t worry. Follow our step-by-step guide to navigate through some of our science and higher education systems. Remember that you can access more of our systems as needed. You can explore their resources in any order you wish. Details can be found in the What are you searching for? section.

A sample path

Find scientists: Visit PBN. Enter your query in the search box to generate a list of relevant publications and authors. If you enter an author's name, you will receive information on what they specialise in.
Explore their projects: Visit the RAD-on website to learn about scientists' research and commercial projects, their scale, and implementing institutions.
Establish collaboration: Do you want to contact experts? You can do that through the institutions at which they are employed. All necessary data can be found on Inventorum, RAD-on or PBN. Some scientists can be contacted directly.
Receive funding: If you have great ideas and devoted staff but are short of money, don’t worry. Visit the OSF website and submit your proposal. You and your team of scientists can apply for funds that will help foster innovation.

Anna’s case

Meet Anna Ebony and learn how she used our free resources to foster innovation in her company.

Anna designs artistic wooden furniture. She is not only a creator: she also supervises the complete production process. She ensures that her furniture is properly stained and preserved.

The competition is fierce and clients expect nothing but the best. Anna knows that she will never run out of ideas. She has talent and designing is her passion. She wants her top-quality furniture to be durable and to serve many generations. She decides to expand her skills.

What is Anna looking for?

Anna wants to check what scientists know about wood processing and preservation. Preparations for wood decoration and protection, biological resistance, and organosilanes are just some of the matters she is keen to explore. She is interested in ready solutions that could be utilised in the production process. If she fails, she will seek experts whom with she can collaborate.

Searching for knowledge sources

Anna visits the PBN website. She enters wood-related keywords in the search box. She is curious what scientific publications on wood she can find. She notices that in addition to the information on publications, the system offers data on expert conferences and professional institutions. She filters her results.

She discovers several firms that specialise in the preservation of monuments. A publication on the preservation of archaeological wood also piques her interest. She decides to contact the authors.

She clicks on the title of the publication to get detailed information on the authors.

Anna is provided with information on their other publications, conferences they have attended and institutions with which they are affiliated.
She notices that one of the authors has a link to their international research ORCID account. The account includes their web address, where she finds contact data.

Additional searching

Anna wants to explore more sources. She visits the RAD-on website. She knows that RAD-on offers reports, analyses and data on Polish science and higher education. In addition to data on publications and authors, RAD-on gathers information on invention patents, scientific projects and research apparatus.

She clicks on the Projects tab to search for wood-related topics and for additional data on the individuals she has identified in Step 1. She then goes to the Publications and Patents tabs to continue her search.

Algorithmic assistance

Anna realises that her individual searches will not be enough. She wonders whether algorithms will be useful. She creates an Inventorum account and completes her profile with detailed information, so that the system can provide her with more relevant recommendations.

Based on her profile data, Inventorum suggests wood-related projects and innovative enterprises, as well as scientific institutions, experts and conferences.

Finally, Anna decides to use the menu and the search engine to search the database on her own.

Funding

Anna already knows which technologies could be of use. She has contacted several scientists. Now, she needs funding to implement their joint project. Before she optimises the furniture preservation process, she wants to read additional studies to learn about the efficiency of the solution she has chosen.

She visits the OSF website to search for ongoing calls for proposal. She familiarises herself with various types of call. She visits the websites of the funding institutions to determine what documents she needs to submit.

Anna notices that the majority of calls for proposal are addressed to scientists and institutions from the science and higher education sectors. She decides that the proposal is going to be submitted by the scientist she contacted. The scientist has extensive knowledge on research and business innovation funding. He can also count on the support of the organisation where he is employed.

Anna and her new collaborator have formed an exceptional team that holds potential advantages for both of them.

Good luck!