A particularly interesting example of how cooperation between Greek and foreign universities can work, both in practice and in practice - and mainly for the benefit of Greek students - is the new initiative "Lab to Market: Bridging Innovation and Entrepreneurship", which is being developed by the renowned Columbia University in New York through its international activities arm Columbia Global Center together with the National Technical University of Athens.
Given that Columbia is ranked among the 10-15 best universities in the world, the transfer of this program to the Greek reality is a major event, with broader implications for the quality of services provided to Greek students and their development opportunities, while they are still within the university community.
In short, "Lab to Market" is a program connecting students from polytechnic schools (at least in the initial phase) with the real market and entrepreneurship. This means that, with the material-financial and intellectual-consulting support of Columbia, NTUA students form working groups, formulate a business idea and then develop it to present it as a refined and implementable proposal.
In the final phase of the “Lab to Market” program, the participating teams compete with each other for the prize, which consists of the initial capital for the creation of a start-up-type business. Multiple cash prizes worth up to 10,000 euros are provided for the most successful business ideas and, of course, close further cooperation with Columbia University, starting with the participants’ mission to New York, with expenses covered entirely by the Lab to Market sponsor, the non-profit organization Blavatnik Family Foundation.
Guidance at every step of the process, from the conception of the idea to the identification of the market sector targeted by each project or even securing financing for the establishment of the company, is provided directly by Columbia, and completely free of charge for students taking part in “Lab to Market”. “The added value of the collaboration lies in the meeting of Columbia’s international experience and renowned academic excellence, with the deep technical and scientific basis of NTUA, creating a strong framework for knowledge transfer and innovative entrepreneurship”, says NTUA Rector Professor Ioannis Hadjigeorgiou.
Applications for 105 projects
More specifically, the program was implemented for the first time in Greece, during the three-day period of January 14-16, 2026, at the Metsoviou facilities, in the Zografou Polytechnic Campus. The interest of Greek students, despite the fact that it was something completely new, was intense, almost surprising the organizers. As the director of the Columbia Global Center in Athens, Stefanos Gandolfo, pointed out to Greek media, “the applications we received exceeded all expectations, as 105 projects were submitted to us by different groups. The members of these groups, in total, are more than 400 students from all over Greece. And this is very pleasing for the start of a very important and original initiative like “Lab to Market””.
The fields of Artificial Intelligence, energy and sustainability, and technological applications in the health sector were chosen for the launch of the Greek version of “Lab to Market”. And it was a rare experience, even moving, to watch the young, aspiring entrepreneurs share their ideas with the audience of the three-day event, to transmit enthusiasm and romance or even ignorance of risk, then to systematize and specialize their initial inspiration by discussing with the Columbia mentors, reaching the final phase, of the competitive stage in a way.
