The discovery turned out not to be significant. But it had raised some questions in Ina Pieper´s mind, and she recalled a lecture about GIBBS during her training in biomedicine at Karolinska Institutet.

“I read about GIBBS - Göteborg International Bioscience Business School -and the more I found out, the more I felt that their training was tailor-made for me. Here was the solution to my problem."

As long as she can remember, Ina Pieper has been interested in science. But following in her father´s footsteps and becoming a doctor didn´t appeal to her.

“I´m more interested in the medical theory behind the diseases than in diagnosing and treating them."

Mornings on the surfboard - evenings in the lab
She continued her studies at Karolinska Institutet and then began working with micro-RNA research at a pharmaceutical company in California. There, she spent her mornings on a surfboard and many evenings and weekends in the lab.

And it was there one evening that she suddenly seemed to have discovered something very interesting. In the midst of the excitement, her head was spinning with concepts like “patent" but it was a concept without contours at the time. She contacted her immediate supervisor about the discovery and she was given a green light to continue with her research.

“I know a good deal about research but at the time, I didn´t know how to go about commercialising the discoveries that were made. And that bothered me. If at some point I wanted to leave the laboratory environment, I would have to acquire other skills. But even if I were to work in a lab, I am interested in following the process and being involved instead of merely handing over a discovery to ‘the big guys,´" she explains.

Well-balanced group of students
Early in the summer of 2007, Ina Pieper was one of ten students who found out that they had been accepted to GIBBS after a comprehensive application process that included essay questions and a personal interview. At GIBBS, a great deal of focus is put on the ability to work in groups, and it is therefore important to have a well-balanced group of students who are likely to work well together. The application process is no simple matter, and it turned out that she had applied to the wrong group by mistake but the Admissions office became concerned and contacted her in order to sort things out.

Broad network for students
Applying to GIBBS is done through the website Studera.nu. Application times differ somewhat, depending on whether the application is from a Swedish or an international university. The students at ICM (School of Intellectual Capital Management), CSE (Chalmers School of Entrepreneurship) and GIBBS study together during the first year before splitting up into groups. The common start results in, among other things, giving the students access to a broader network.

Ina Pieper has just begun her studies at GIBBS when we meet her (autumn 2007). The first term is primarily held at The School of Economics and Business Administration. It begins with a crash course in intellectual property studies.

“We were thrown right into an actual case and through it, we understood what knowledge we would need to acquire in our time at the school."
 
Develop the business side of real projects
In the second term, the students choose among a variety of courses. During this period, analyses are also begun concerning the research projects that the students, in small groups, will work with to develop the business aspect. It is also through these projects that the knowledge of marketing, legal issues and other skills gained in the classroom are applied. A thesis is also based on the project.

 After little more than a month at GIBBS, Ina´s idea of what she would like to do after completing her studies has already changed.

“Before, I wanted to have a key position in a good-sized corporation and work with strategic research planning. Now I hope that it will be possible to develop the project that has been assigned to me at GIBBS into a viable company that I would like to continue running. I would like to work in a project that leads to improving people´s health. That means a lot to me."

 
 ...the entrepreneurial spirit in the United States versus Sweden
“In the United States , I met a different driving force for starting a business than one sees in Sweden. I think that many people here have the impression that it is difficult and that people don´t really know where to start."

 
... being a researcher and an entrepreneur
“I think more knowledge and another way of thinking are needed. People are still concerned with publishing their research results as quickly as they can but this makes it difficult to take out a patent later on. But how many people are aware of this? This alone says a great deal. But I think that it may partly be a generational issue."

 
... the school project that is part of the instruction
“For the school project that we are conducting in class, we have decided to do a social entrepreneurship project to promote entrepreneurial activity in developing countries, but exactly what the project will entail and the direction it will take is still confidential. Last year, the CSE class conducted the Insert Africa project in which they went to Uganda and promoted entrepreneurship in a village by building a house with electricity that came from solar cells on the roof and where there are computers and other aids that the local inhabitants can use. Our project deals with something similar and if anyone reading this thinks that it sounds interesting, they are welcome to contact me to discuss collaboration."