professor horst cerjak, 19.12.2005 1 christoph adametz (tu graz r&t house) universities as...

Professor Horst Cerjak, 19.12.20051

Christoph Adametz (TU Graz R&T House) www.technologytransfer.tugraz.at

Universities as Innovation Partners:Technology Push and Market Pull

Christoph Adametz, Graz University of TechnologyAleppo, Nov. 2010



Graz University of Technology (TU Graz): a medium sized university withstrong industry links and proactive KTT support (KTT = Knowledge and Technology Transfer)

Students 11.264

Graduates 1.214

Federal Budget p.a. 103 Mill. €

Income from Contractual Work p.a. 47 Mill. €

Staff 2.222

- Permanent Staff 1.315

- Staff for Contractual Work 907



TU Graz KTT support organisation

Research & Technology HouseU. Diefenbach and C. Adametz plus 16 staff

EU 7FP, EU project administration, scientific funds

industrial liaison, research project support, (funding opportunities, experts matching …)

technology commercialisation, IPR support Career Info-Service

Vice Rector for Research

Science Park (academic incubator)



Ways of KTT at TU Graz: income and type (technology push / market pull)

Income (appr.) Type of KTT

scientific publication 0 push

student projects / placement & career services >>100.000 € pull / push

training courses / e-learning >100.000 € mostly pull

patenting / licenses (10-15 patents p.a.) >>100.000 € “pure” push

spin-offs (TU Graz is shareholder) <100.000 € push

start-ups (academic incubator, 10 projects p.a) 0 push / pull

contract & collaborative research projects >>10 Mio. € mostly pull

industrial joint ventures (strategic eg 7years) >>1 Mio. € push / pull

• Majority of income: contract / collaborative research; industrial joint ventures

• IPR generated in collaborative projects: growing issue (eg value of transfer of exploitation rights)

• IPR generated without partner: growing interest, usually international licensees



science-industry projects

what industry researchers want:• immediate project start, strict compliance to timeline• meet high-qualified young graduates• tap expertise of senior researchers• use university infrastructure• no fuss about IPR, if possible 100% exploitation rights

what academics want:• put their academic expertise to the test in „real life“• draw a paper• gain some profit for the institute and if possible for themselves• NO FUSS about IPR, no „legal tricks“ from industry side

Trust …is not: consensus between two legal departmentsis: based on good reputation of institutes and professors built

on project references, scientific resume, employable graduates



what businesses can do to promote KTT between science and business

1. pose challenging R&D needs

2. take advantage of local academic experts: most of R&D collaboration happens within a region

3. recruit university graduates: best for informal contacts

4. be willing to commission external R&D (open innovation)

5. consider universities` multiple tasks (teaching, basic research, ..) scienticts are neither lazy nor unwilling to collaborate with businesses, but they already have a 100% job to do

6. be a reliable partner to the university, give a long-term collaboration perspective

7. accept cost incurred: additional contract R&D requires additional money; EU clearly states that universities must not violate Competition Law

8. accept the need to draw scientific papers from projects – define an NDA

9. accept that universities want their decent share in the case of successful commercialization of their ideas



real cases of KTT between TU Graz and SMEs

< biotech production of glucosylglycerine >

Role of R&T House: evaluation of professor`s invention partner search Bitop Ltd. (GER) negotation of licensing agreement (>100.000,-- €, different stages), freedom to license outside Bitop‘s core business

Benefit for company: • production of large quantitites of substance possible, used in cosmetics • production has started, based on findings of lab-scale production

< multifunctional plug&play facade >

Role of R&T House: proactive company visit at SFL Ltd. (facade construction company, AUT) arrangement of meetings with professors and CEO assist application for public funding and consortium agreement

Benefit for company: • 50% public funding (6,3 Mio.€ total / 1,2 Mio.€ TU Graz)• 5-year project with commitment of 3 R&D partners and 11 suppliers• mutual use of simulation software and test infrastructure• access to young professionals



… to draw similar benefits: use the expertise of our Syrian KTT colleagues, approach Aleppo University’s Chair

of Innovation.

Thank you for your attention!

professor horst cerjak, 19.12.2005 1 christoph adametz (tu graz r&t house) universities as...

Documents