Last week, impact advisors, innovation managers, and knowledge transfer officers from 26 UnILiON - Universities Informal Liaison Offices Network member universities gathered in Brussels for a dynamic exchange of best practices and insights on impact management. Representing our institution, Orsolya Lugmayer (Liaison Officer) and Nandor Petrovics (Senior Research Expert and Impact Manager) participated in the discussions, returning with fresh ideas and renewed inspiration to drive our impact strategies forward. It was a fantastic opportunity to connect, share, and collaborate with peers across Europe, shaping the future of innovation and research impact.
📒 This week 32 technology and #knowledgetransfer officers from 26 #UnILiON -member universities across 11 countries gathered in Brussels for 24 hours of exchanging best practices, challenges, ideas and exploring new insights. TTOs are vital actors that bridge the gap between #research and commercialisation, contributing to robust European #innovationecosystems and enhancing European competitiveness. With the recent buzz around the Draghi report and the launch of the recommendations from the High-Level Group, the timing couldn’t have been better! This study trip, organised by the UnILiON Working Group on Innovation, focused on how to continue bridging that gap at #university level, but also what is being done at EU policy level to support technology transfer and innovation. We had lively discussions with András G. Inotai from DG RTD, Veronica Beneitez Piñero from the EIC, and also EIC programme manager Carina Faber. We were also joined by Isabella Ismail and Luca Cruciato to discuss their work in the #IGLO innovation group, as well as Eleni Dritsakou from EARTO. Lastly @Anna Battison and @Guilia Lombardo shared their expertise and explained the role of the JRC’s Competence Center on Technology Transfer. It’s hard to only choose a few key-takeaways from all these insightful discussions, but here are a few: ▶️ Many researchers are unaware of TTOs and KTOs existence - this needs to change to close the innovation gap! ▶️Innovation is defined differently across regions, countries, and universities and industry. A common language is key to help TTOs and industry collaborate better. ▶️Structural changes are necessary at multiple levels - National, sectoral, institutional and European! ▶️Private co-financing for start ups missing. While the EU and US are almost spending the same amount of Public money for R&D, there is large difference in private funding 👏 Thank you to all the participants and speakers for being so engaging. While there are many challenges when it comes to innovation, the drive to continue to work hard and overcome these challenges was evident! Aarhus University, DTU - Technical University of Denmark, Turku University of Applied Sciences, Åbo Akademi University, Stockholms universitet, University of Bergen (UiB), Luleå University of Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Corvinus University of Budapest, Fundación de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Turun yliopisto - University of Turku, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus BV / Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Coventry University, @University of South Wales, Copenhagen Business School 👏 Thank you to Victoria Kulla and Mathilde Dam, Karl STOECKEL, Orsolya Lugmayer for organising the study visit with help from Ignasi Salvado-Estivill, Caroline Sundberg, Charlotte Eide, Massimo Busuoli