Chula Extends its Collaboration with MIT to Advance the GLEEN Network

Chulalongkorn University is strengthening its partnership with the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to enhance entrepreneurship education on an international scale and cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset among students. This mindset is recognized as one of the essential competencies for learning and working in the 21st century. 

As part of this initiative, Chulalongkorn University appointed Prof. Dr. Parichart Sthapitanonda, Vice President, and Assist. Prof. Supachai Chuenjitwongsa, Assistant to the President, to visit MIT to discuss and prepare for the next phase of collaboration with the Martin Trust Center. Chulalongkorn also joins the initiative as one of the founding members of the Global Leaders of Entrepreneurship Educators Network (GLEEN). 

GLEEN is an international collaboration established by the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship to connect leading universities worldwide in advancing entrepreneurship education. The network promotes the exchange of knowledge, curricula, and best practices while supporting faculty development so educators can effectively teach entrepreneurial thinking. The network is built around the Disciplined Entrepreneurship framework developed by Bill Aulet, Managing Director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship and Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management. 

The Disciplined Entrepreneurship framework has been used for more than a decade in MIT’s entrepreneurial programs, including the Delta V Accelerator, and has gained recognition from universities and organizations around the world. Its core principle is that: “Entrepreneurship is not an innate talent possessed by only a few people; it is a skill that everyone can learn, practice, and develop.” 

A defining feature of the framework is that it begins with understanding people, rather than starting with products or technology. It emphasizes fundamental questions such as “Who is experiencing the problem?” How can we create value to solve that problem? 

Only after answering these questions does the process move toward developing innovations, business models, and scalable solutions through a systematic 24-step methodology. This approach reduces the risks associated with innovation and increases the likelihood of creating solutions that genuinely meet users’ needs. 

For Chulalongkorn University, Prof. Dr. Parichart Sthapitanonda emphasized that the collaboration with MIT extends far beyond producing entrepreneurs or startups. Instead, its broader objective is to develop an entrepreneurial mindset as a foundational skill for both students and educators, supporting course development and curriculum innovation. 

She explained: “Entrepreneurial thinking is not limited to the business world. It is a way of thinking that enables individuals to recognize problems, understand the needs of others, think creatively, experiment boldly, and collaboratively develop solutions that benefit society.” 

This mindset can be applied across all professions to drive innovation, improve work processes, and create positive societal change. 

Another major direction of this collaboration is the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into entrepreneurship education. AI will serve as an intelligent assistant, helping educators and learners better understand stakeholders, gather insights into needs and challenges, analyze problems, test hypotheses, and develop innovative curricula more effectively. At the same time, the university emphasizes that humans must remain responsible for exercising judgment, making decisions, and taking accountability for educational outcomes and the development of high-quality graduates. 

By becoming one of the founding members of the GLEEN network and expanding its partnership with the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, Chulalongkorn University reinforces its role as a leading university contributing to the global higher education community. The collaboration supports the university’s mission of developing high-quality graduates who are creative, action-oriented, committed to lifelong learning, and capable of leveraging knowledge, technology, and AI to address societal and global challenges in a sustainable manner.