The present study was carried out in the Technologic Incubator of Santa Maria (ITSM), with the aim of analyzing the influence of incubation process on the characteristics and the entrepreneurial learning, in perception of business managers who experience this process in the ITSM. For this, the data were collected through the application of the questionnaire developed by David McClelland (1972) about CCE's and achievement of semi-structured interviews with eight business managers incubated. The questions addressed in the interview had focus on life history, professional trajectory, incubation process and learning entrepreneurial, this latest obeying the assumptions proposed by Politis (2005). For the data analysis used the approach described by Sampieri (2006), analyzing qualitatively the questionnaires applied, and content analysis of the interviews, based on Bardin (2011).The analysis categories were defined a priori: the process of incubation, entrepreneurial characteristics and entrepreneurial learning. The defined categories of analysis not a priori, based on reports of respondents were: perceived demands and interaction needs. It is stressed that the objective of the study was answered fully, in function of which, from the perspective of incubated, the ITSM provided development opportunities for these entrepreneurs, and also for their businesses, stimulating learning them through an experiential character. As contribution, from results obtained, developed a plan of action for the ITSM, in order to reduce the demands perceived by incubated about the incubation process. / O presente trabalho foi realizado na incubadora tecnológica de Santa Maria (ITSM), com o intuito de analisar a influência do processo de incubação sobre as características e a aprendizagem empreendedoras, na percepção de gestores de negócios que vivenciam este processo na ITSM. Para isso, os dados foram coletados por meio da aplicação do questionário desenvolvido por David McClelland (1972) sobre CCE´s e da realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas com oito gestores de negócios incubados. Os questionamentos abordados na entrevista tiveram foco na história de vida, trajetória profissional, processo de incubação e aprendizagem empreendedora, esta última obedecendo às premissas propostas por Politis (2005). Para a análise dos dados utilizou-se a abordagem descrita por Sampieri (2006), analisando-se qualitativamente os questionários aplicados, e técnica de análise de conteúdo das entrevistas, baseada em Bardin (2011). As categorias de análise definidas a priori foram: processo de incubação, características empreendedoras e aprendizagem empreendedora. As categorias de análise definidas não a priori, com base nos relatos dos entrevistados, foram: demandas percebidas e necessidades de interação. Destaca-se que o objetivo do estudo foi atendido plenamente, em função de que, a partir da perspectiva dos incubados, a ITSM proporcionou oportunidades de desenvolvimento para estes indivíduos, bem como para seus negócios, estimulando a aprendizagem dos mesmos por meio de um caráter experiencial. Como contribuição, a partir dos resultados obtidos, elaborou-se um plano da ação para a ITSM, com o objetivo de reduzir as demandas percebidas pelos incubados, acerca do processo de incubação.

This thesis will study how scientific research environments should be designed, specifically addressing the issues beyond mere needs of research scientists. Assuming that the purpose of research is to create new knowledge and foster discoveries, as well as positively influence the community in its processes and results, this thesis will explore the potential of the influence of this building typology that has not been previously considered enough. The objectives of the thesis are on one hand, the changes in science disciplines and their reflections in the evolution among this building type, on the other hand, the impacts of research environment on scientific evolution. The question is, beyond support, can architecture promote and nurture science and enlighten scientists toward a new understanding of scientific activities? Based on this research, it is assumed that good science happens in spaces that are transparent and dynamically communicative. The methodologies, which will be used to address these objectives, include literature review, exploration of case studies, surveys and interviews with scientists about their use of the laboratory buildings, and the design of a prototype building for scientific research.

Bakgrund: Inkubatorer är organisationer som syftar till att hjälpa nystartade företag att växa och överleva sina tidiga år. Det finns tydligt beskrivet hur inkubatorernas stödprocesserär utformade, men beskrivningar om hur och varför de utformats på detta sätt lyser med sin frånvaro. Ett fåtal forskare har antagit eller beskrivit kopplingar mellan processutformning och organisationers målsättning, men ingen tydlig koppling verkar ha identifierats. Genom att sammankoppla målsättning och process syftar denna studie till att illustrera hur processer utformas, både inom inkubatorer och hos andra organisationstyper. Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att beskriva hur målsättningen hos icke-vinstdrivande svenska inkubatorer påverkar utformningen av inkubatorernas inkubationsprocesser. Metod: Uppsatsen utgår ifrån ett konstruktionistiskt perspektiv med en abduktiv ansats, som i sin tur inneburit ett iterativt arbetssätt. Studien har en kvalitativ forskningsdesign, och undersöker 11 svenska inkubatorer i en fenomenbaserad små-N-studie. Uppsatsens respondenter valdes ut genom ett i huvudsak målstyrt urval, och data från respondenterna har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. En tematisk analys har utförts baserat på den empiriska data för att finna kopplingar till uppsatsens frågeställningar. Slutsats: Studien drar tydliga kopplingar mellan målsättning hos svenska icke vinstdrivande inkubatorer och deras inkubationsprocesser. Dessa kopplingar kan dras både mellan övergripande mål och specifika mål inom organisationerna. Urvalet till en inkubator påverkas mycket av inkubatorns olika mål. Vissa delar av handledningsprocessen, främst nätverksaktiviteter och rådgivning, påverkas också tydligt av inkubatorns mål. Denna studie har dessutom påvisat att de specifika målen som formulerats hos inkubatorerna ofta baseras på de övergripande målen. / Background: Business incubators are organizations with a purpose to help new ventures grow and survive their early years. There are descriptions of the general incubation process, but clear motivations of their process design are sorely missing. Some researchers suggest links between the goals of organizations and their process design, but a clear connection seems to be missing. By connecting goals and processes, this study aims to illustrate how processes are formed within business incubators as well as other types of organizations. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe how the goals of Swedish non-profit incubators influence the design of business incubators’ incubation processes. Methodology: The study is based on a constructionist perspective with an abductive approach, which in turn has led to an iterative study process. It is based on a qualitative research design and investigates 11 respondents through a small-N-study. Respondents were chosen based on a mostly goal-driven selection process, and empirical data has been collected through semi-structured interviews with each respondent. A thematic analysis was conducted on this data to answer the research questions posed. Conclusion: The study draws clear connections between goals of Swedish non-profit business incubators and their incubation processes. These connections can be made from both organizational goals and specific goals within the organizations. Incubators' selection processes are largely affected by the different goals of the organization. This is also true for networking and guidance activities within the incubator. In addition, the study has shown that specific goals within the incubators are largely influenced by their organizational goals.

The thesis is focused on project financing in the non-profit sphere. The paper deals with the financing of the project by spending irreversibly financial contribution from European Union funds. The sponsor of this ride is the town of Piešťany. The goal of this project is the realization of building a business incubator.

In a research part, this diploma thesis deals with dividing incubators into groups according to their kind of use. From the groups biological incubators have been chosen to describe their construction, to explain possibilities of doing sampling and temperature and CO2 control. The research part is concluded by an overview of biological transport incubators for a transfer of cell cultures. In the part of the thesis which deals with a new construction solution some variations are suggested. The most suitable variation has been chosen after a structural technological description, and it is further described in a constructional solution. The frame of the incubator is made from aluminium alloy and is controlled by FEM. There are individual structural nodes being explained and visualised step by step in the construction solution. In the end of the construction solving some information about making the construction and prices of all continuing manufacture are stated.

Cell cultures are grown in special incubators ensuring appropriate culture conditions for cell survival. The introduction of the diploma thesis is dedicated to the cultivation of cells in vitro and description of sensors, especially designated for the sensing of gas concentration. The main essence of this work is a project and realization of the monoclimatic incubation chamber for the incubation of cell cultures with the opportunity to observe them under a confocal microscope. Another part of this work is dealing with the project and application of autonomous sensing system and regulation of gas concentration (O2 and CO2) in the chamber. The nal part of thesis is dedicated to the presentation of the project correctness verication of the incubation chamber.

MSCAGR (Animal Science) / Department of Animal Science / See the attached abstract below

In recent years there has been an increased focus on preservation of our environment and natural resources. As a result, in a notably natural resource consuming world, sustainable development has evolved in societies for the conservation of the environment. Even though the term sustainability has become more frequently discussed, the subject remains complex. The aim of the study is to explore how high-profile business incubators in Sweden and the startups they support relate to sustainability, and to understand the conditions for pushing more progressive sustainability agendas, in a country that boasts about its sustainability ambitions. Fourteen in-depth, semi-structured interviews were held with both incubator business developers, startup founders, an expert within the innovation system and a professional investor. This qualitative study analyses different perceptions regarding sustainability and the incubators and startups role within the innovation system in a country that boasts about its sustainability ambitions. The results indicate that there is a demand for stricter institutional pressures, with increased support for entrepreneurs. It also turns out that incubators have room for improvement when it comes to motivational inspiration and behavioural changes for their tenants. However, they show to be receptive and attentive towards a systematic approach in order to enhance sustainability work. It is also shown that entrepreneurs', compared to the incubators, appears to have taken a greater distance from understanding the sustainability topic. As many as 56 percent of the entrepreneurs claimed that a forced method could be beneficial but might require more time than it is worth. The remaining 44 percent saw it as purely advantageous. Future studies are encouraged to conduct an investigation including a greater number of participants as an attempt to generalise these findings, and also try to identify if gender has a significant role regarding the matter.

Small businesses are an important part of innovation, competitiveness and economic development. Support systems such as business incubators have emerged with the purpose of helping these startups develop. The startups which are in focus in this thesis operate in different industries, in technology-based industries where commercialization and growth is in focus, to creative industries which focus on developing individual talent and creativity. The characteristics and core of the businesses differ, giving them different business logics by which the startups operate. The business logic leads the startups to face different challenges, which the thesis considers to regard liabilities of smallness, liabilities of newness and liabilities of uniqueness as well as organizing.  These variations give the startups differences in how they operate and hence, also a need for different types of support given by business incubators. Business incubator support is in the thesis categorized into three components of Networks, Infrastructure and Business Services, as suggested in a triad model of Carvalho & Galina (2015). As varying business logics makes a difference on what type of value startups produce, it is important to study the relationship between these logics and the support provided by an incubator. It is important in order to understand how incubators can adapt their support more effectively to help entrepreneurs overcome their challenges.  The thesis purpose is to broaden the understanding of how business logics and challenges of startups adhere to the industry they are in, and how the support given by business incubators can help the businesses to overcome challenges associated with these business logics. The research design was qualitative, and data was collected by performing six semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs within creative and technology-based industries, enrolled at business incubators with these specializations.  The study results in a proposed model, giving extension to the original triad model by Carvalho & Galina (2015). In the proposed model, new dimensions of the support system as well as the nature of the startups’ business logics, and challenges are addressed. The proposed model and the study’s results may act as a guiding framework for future research in the field, aiming to gain a better understanding of the reality of startups with different business logics.

Over the past three decades, interest in the topic of Business Incubation and more specifically University Business Incubation, has increased, due to its potential to encourage entrepreneurial activities, which initiate innovation and economic development. The literature on entrepreneurship devotes significant attention to BI as a tool for supporting entrepreneurs in overcoming difficulties associated with starting a business. Meanwhile, the fact that incubators themselves are vulnerable to different challenges needs to be sufficiently highlighted in the research currently in publication. By adopting an incubator’s perspective on developing entrepreneurs and, therefore, its dynamics that form new ventures, this qualitative study has focused on difficulties adjacent to the administration of the incubator. By building on the Black Box model of incubation, the Triad model, as well as Institutionalized entrepreneurship, the researchers have contributed to the phenomena of UBIs, and the many challenges they encounter when incubating business tenants. The thesis has successfully confirmed the inherent value of ensuring the financial viability of publicly financed incubators while shedding light on the challenges involved in achieving self-sufficiency. This examination has delved into the acquisition of government funds by incubators and explored the opportunities and constraints accompanying such support. Building on existing literature, which identifies sustainability and growth as key indicators, this study has provided empirical evidence and analysis that underscores the detrimental impact on the incubator's core mission when these criteria are not maintained.