New three-year EU project dedicated to technology transfer

On 20 January, PROGRESS-TT, a new Horizon 2020 programme was launched in Brussels. This marked the beginning of a European Commission initiative to challenge its international competitors in converting investment in research into commercial returns through innovation.

'Innovation is at the heart of Europe’s growth strategy. Over the next three years, PROGRESS-TT will bring together consortium partners with vast experience of technology transfer, capacity building and creating business solutions, skills invaluable in overcoming the barriers PROs face in transferring their technology to industry and commercial success,' Célia Gavaud, International Business Manager for Pera Consulting and Project Coordinator of PROGRESS-TT said.

PROGRESS-TT (Public Research Organisation GRowing Europe through best practice SolutionS for Technology Transfer) seeks to transfer the expertise of Europe’s leading Public Research Organisations (PROs) to those smaller PROs with the greatest potential to grow – gathering best practice to formulate Europe’s most definitive technology transfer (TT) tools, methods and insight.

The project consortium, led by Pera Consulting (UK) Ltd, brings together nine highly qualified international partners, representing the complete value chain of TT practitioners. They are: ASTP-Proton, DSM Nutritional Products, Fraunhofer MOEZ, Knowledge Innovation Market, MI.TO Technology, Philips Intellectual Property & Standards, University of Bologna, and VTT Ventures.

They will work together to design and implement a capacity building programme for technology transfer professionals that includes:

- Training, workshops, bootcamps and e-learning delivered to emerging PROs and TT funds to develop their core skills.

- Intensive coaching and mentoring for high potential PROs to accelerate their TT activity. PROGRESS-TT will form ‘teams’ of experienced TTO performers, industry, funds and high potential PROs to develop capability, capacity, opportunity, desire, and to build a supportive TT environment.

- Improved access to finance by bringing established and emerging funds together to share best practice and identify cross-border opportunities.