Tongji University has launched a research to business platform offering tailor-made development and managerial training sessions to scientists and management teams.

Organized by the School of Economics and Management's International Executive Development Program (SEM-IEDP), the inaugural three-day event allowed scientists and senior businesspeople from the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, traditional Chinese medicine and food supplement industries to gain a better understanding of each other's operating models, driving values, constraints and ambitions.

Representatives from institutions such as Institut Pasteur of Paris in Shanghai, Spruson & Ferguson Shanghai and Hangzhou Tigermed Consulting Co attended the opening session and discussed topics such as intellectual property protection.

Ada Yonath of the Weizmann Institute of Science, laureate of the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2009, delivered a keynote speech sharing her ideas on how to make scientific discoveries marketable.

"The Tongji-SEM-IEDP research to business platform offers an original opportunity for scientists and businesspeople to discuss their differences and learn how to overcome obstacles and better collaborate for their mutual benefit and that of society," she said.

The three-day workshop can be prepared based on companies' particular needs and can be run in individual company's premises.