Blogging a Master thesis

This blog is meant to get a grip on the Dutch and Singaporean Life Sciences sectors and the situation of indigenous Life Sciences starters in these two countries.

To finalize my Master's studies in Biomedical Sciences at Leiden University (Netherlands) I chose for an internship at the Dutch Office for Science and Technology (NOST) network and started to get acquainted with the Dutch Life Science sector. I read through sector reports and innovation programs and talked to Dutch Life Sciences policy makers, venture capitalists and science park managers to gain an insights into the business climate for local LS start-ups.

Well-skilled knowledge workers and internationally recognized research groups enable and support the growth of the Dutch Life Sciences sector and led to a number of emerging high-tech enterprises, clustered around knowledge institutes and well established companies.

In contrast to the Netherlands and many other European countries, Singapore has managed to grow its Life Sciences sector in a significantly shorter period of time. The city-state has often been complimented for its continuity in (financial) sector support through governmental institutions and its ability to attract numerous foreign MNCs and build its Life Sciences sector more or less from scratch. I am aiming to investigate how the Singaporean top-down approach to innovation in the Life Sciences is shaping the business climate for indigenous start-ups and spin-offs. In what respect do home-grown LS starters in Singapore differ from start-ups in the Netherlands and how are they being shaped by their respective business and innovation climates?

I was inspired to supplement my studies on Dutch and Singaporean LS starters through this blog after having stumbled over the blog of Poh Kam Wong, director of the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre in Singapore. In the style of his blog I aim to "connect the dots" that enable successful innovation and tech transfer in the Life Sciences and map features particular to the Singaporean top-down approach or the rather organically grown Life Science sector in the Netherlands.

I invite you to consider this blog as a working paper and I'll be happy about any comments, remarks or information that you might want to share. I'm hoping to bundle the opinions of many in the field to see this blog turn into a balanced projection of how various factors support or hamper Life Sciences starters in the Netherlands and in Singapore.