TRAM Track is now MEC Discover. Find out more and apply below.
From research to real-world impact through customer discovery.
MEC Discover is an 7-week early-stage pre-accelerator for University of Melbourne researchers, staff and alumni ready to explore the commercial potential of an idea or research.
This pre-accelerator enables you to test your concept against real market demand, refine your solution, and build the confidence to move from insight to action, knowing your idea addresses a genuine need.
By the end of MEC Discover, you will have a clear roadmap for next steps, a network of like-minded founders to support you, and the foundational knowledge to continue your entrepreneurial journey.
Program Dates
MEC Discover runs weekly program sessions from the week of 13 April to 29 May 2026.
Understand how your research can add value and who that value is for
Apply your research to frameworks from the entrepreneurial world
Connect to University support networks
Practice communicating your findings and impact
Build an entrepreneurial mindset
Gain confidence in yourself and your project
Why join?
Each team participates in a weekly coaching session. These sessions offer focused, tailored support to address your team’s unique needs and guide you through the program’s content.
Coaching
Every team is paired with a mentor who brings valuable insights and expertise. During the program, teams will have mentoring sessions with their mentor and the MEC Discover Program Manager.
Mentors
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“Learning to translate your hard work beyond the academy is difficult, particularly into communities and further afield into unknown spaces. We know it’s important for communication but also clarity in thinking about what and how the impact matters and for whom. TRAM Track helped Sarah and I to see what we’d already achieved with a new lens and language and then to shift our gaze. TRAM Track is a threshold concept for all researchers to cross - because it transforms how you see your research so that you can translate it for others. Working as a team in TRAM Track created working opportunities that we would have otherwise put off. The dedicated weekly workshops and generative mentoring helped to frame the system changes our lab needed to translate our research.”
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“The TRAM Track program helped me explore beyond research and investigate how my PhD project can provide a real-world impact. Through customer discovery, I was able to focus on a specific application, identify stakeholder challenges, and understand their complex ecosystem. The mentors also helped reveal various paths my research could take after the program, including the potential for turning it into a business. I highly recommend Track to anyone interested in entrepreneurship who believes their research could make a real-world difference but doesn't know where to start. The more effort you put in, the more you gain—perhaps even more than expected!”
