UNN Accelerator programme opens at Lobachevsky University

The UNN Accelerator programme was officially launched at the Innovation Development Centre (IDC) of Lobachevsky University on September 12. It followed the university's victory in the competition for acceleration programmes under the federal project "Technologies" within the National Technology Initiative Platform.

At the opening ceremony, Oleg Trofimov, Rector of Lobachevsky University, stated: "The programme we are launching today aims to accelerate your projects. I am glad to see that all institutes and  faculties are now involved in the UNN Accelerator. The university will do its best to ensure that your ideas become reality - this is our priority. If you lack any competencies, you can always ask your supervisors or experienced mentors for help."

According to Alexander Knyazev, Director of the UNN Innovation Development Centre, the goal of the accelerator programme is to practically implement the idea of a complete project life cycle for projects with varying levels of technological readiness, including establishing connections with a network of experts who could potentially become project customers.

"Our UNN Accelerator programme is aimed primarily at our students. We will create about 35 teams each comprising students from our university, and these teams will be guided by experienced mentors.  Currently, much attention is paid at the highest level to the development of innovative products. These are technologies with a level of readiness of 6 or higher. Thanks to projects like UNN Accelerator, Lobachevsky University will turn out more and more innovative products every year," noted Alexander Knyazev.

"Our acceleration programme will have two stages, including an educational block and a block for working on startup projects. This will involve forming student teams, generating ideas, and directly developing projects," said Mikhail Fedotov, head of the UNN Accelerator project.

The UNN Accelerator programme is designed to support promising and commercially viable initiatives in the field of technological entrepreneurship. It aims to help students and young professionals turn their ideas into successful startups and attract investment.

Lobachevsky University has become one of the leaders in the "Student Startup" competition organised by the University Technology Entrepreneurship Platform. Out of the 25 projects submitted by UNN, 14 have been recognized as winners and an additional 3 have been included in the reserve list and will receive support with additional funding.

This competition is organised by the Foundation for Promotion of Innovation, which is part of the University Technology Entrepreneurship Platform launched by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science of the Russian Federation in 2022 under the national project "Efficient and Competitive Economy".

In 2025, the selection was held in seven thematic areas. The winners from UNN included nine projects from the Faculty of Chemistry, two from the Faculty of Physics, one each from the Institute of Economics, the Institute of Clinical Medicine, and the Institute of Information Technology, Mathematics, and Mechanics.

Previously reported that Nanocomplex for preventing selenium deficiency developed at Lobachevsky University.