My name is Vasileios Trikalitis (1990, Athens, Greece) and I am a PhD candidate at the Vascularization Lab in the University of Twente and Product Manager in IamFluidics B.V. I am also one of the 5 co-founders, Director of Initiatives and Chairman of Authentia.
In Authentia, we want to form a network of Greek scholars that transfer knowledge to each other from their diverse background and can innovate towards a better society which is in alignment with the shaping 2030 mission of University of Twente.
“Entrepreneurial scholars are the agents of societal change.”
As Director of Initiatives, my goal is to raise and secure funding through proposals, that will assist at least one Greek scholar, within University of Twente or from a Greek university to develop entrepreneurial skills. Furthermore, I would like to apply my experience in business development and grant applications to help with writing grants for a good idea that could achieve a positive societal impact in Greece.
From my PhD experience and early start-up development in IamFluidics, I am well aware of the gap between academia and entrepreneurship. Bridging this gap was a series of “fortunate” events, however, I firmly believe that this process can be triggered with a bit of guidance. Setting up a start-up, obtaining funding and becoming “investor attractive”, sounds scarier than it actually is.
Growing up in Greece, I’ve observed problems that could be resolved via social entrepreneurship. I am interested in empowering and guiding young scholars with strong ideas, on the process of how to turn a societal problem into a business case that can actually become a successful social enterprise.
My aspirations are the following two:
- Empower and enable scholars to become agents of societal change via entrepreneurship.
- Transmit the same message in the Greek universities by linking them with the University of Twente entrepreneurial programs.
Are you interested in helping with empowering Greek scholars or are you curious about how to become entrepreneurial? Would you contribute in our efforts, whether hands-on or monetarily for our objectives? Feel free to contact me at v.trikalitis@utwente.nl or via Linkedin.
