ASTP Annual Conference, 22 - 24 May 2013, Vienna, Austria
Best practices in transfer of science and technology. Programme and online registration here
2nd call and proxy votes for the Special General Assembly, Vienna 23 May 2013, 18.30. Documents available here
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ProTon Europe, the European Knowledge Transfer Association, created in 2003 by the European Commission and self supporting since 2007.

Benefits for the Members ! Why should you join ProTon Europe?

    

Networking

  • Access to the Largest Europe-wide KTO Network:
    Reaches out to almost 600 universities & public research organisations across Europe.
     
  • Knowledge Transfer (KT) Policy Advice:
    The voice for the KT profession in the development of European and national knowledge transfer policy.
     


Actions 

  • Benchmarking Performance and Annual Survey:
    A European wide survey on the Technology Transfer performance to demonstrate with facts and figures their major role in economic growth initiated in 2005.
     
  • KT Professional Development:
    Access to mentoring and expert advice, KT training and staff exchange programmes.
     
  • KT Good Practice Platform and Tools:
    Access to good practice (KTO management, Policy, Patenting, IPR, Licensing, Interaction with Industry, Spin-offs, Training) and tools ( the Knowledge Vine, the Staff Exchange programme, market research database, guidelines, checklists, agreements, forms).
     


Additional Advantages

  • Monthly Newsletter:
    Electronic newsletter with updated case studies, news from the members, hot policy topics, major European Events, photos of new members, job vacancies.
       
  • Discount on registration fees
    for conferences, training courses, workshops and hot topic debates organised by the Association and/or partner organizations and on Market Research database providers
     
  • Lobbying the European key deciders
    Board members and some members of ProTon Europe participate actively in shaping the future policy of the profession: e.g.European Research Area: participation in the Expert Group on Knowledge Sharing
  1. European Institute of Technology: advice on Intellectual Property policy
  2. Responsible Partnering : guidelines for  strategic partnerships with industry
  3. State Aid Rules : clarifying  State Aid rules  for R&D and technology transfer and increasing minimis
  4. European Patent System: increasing harmonisation and reducing the cost and complexity of patenting in Europe
  5. Contribution to EU study on monitoring and analysis of TT and IP regimes and their use
  6. Institute of Knowledge Transfer: increasing status and recognition  of KT profession
  7. Knowledge Transfer Expert Group : DG Research advisory group
  • Continuous Professional Development
    ProTon Europe also offers Members the opportunities to meet with peers and experts in all aspects of Knowledge Transfer by organising each year:
  1. Training schools: 2-day events on Managing a KTO, Deal making with Industry, Fundamentals of IP, Patenting, Licensing,
  2. Workshops:1,5 day events on Marketing research results, Ten great ideas for marketing innovations, Proof of Concept,
  3. Hot topic debates: one-day events on Fiscal incentives to R&D, State Aids limits, Space technologies down to Earth,
  4. Annual conference, the largest event of the year, which offers networking opportunities.
  5. The Bookstore offers books and tools which have proved effective for peers in other parts of Europe.

 
Full Membership is available worldwide to KT Offices in all Universities and Public Research Organisations. Members of National Partner Associations receive a 50% discount on membership fees.
 
Associate Membership is available worldwide to professionals working closely with KTOs (venture capital, IP and innovation consultants, corporate industry,...).

 
Cost of membership:
Associate Members fee = 900 EUR
Full Members fee = 600 EUR
Full Members fee for those organisations that are also members of an association that is a partner of ProTon Europe = 300 EUR
 

For online registration, click here!

NEWS

 
The new ProTon Europe annual survey 2012 on Knowledge Transfer activities is available here
The survey refers to the fiscal year 2011.
 


EU draft proposal for a revised block exemption for technology transfer agreements and for revised guidelines
The European Commission DG Competition has opened a consultation regarding revised rules on technology transfer agreements. The existing exemptions may be changed. The Commission may tighten rules so as to avoid companies using licensing agreements to divide up markets among themselves or to block competing technologies from entering markets. The new rules are also expected to address the functioning of ?patent pools?. The Commission is inviting comments on its proposals until May 17th.
Full document available here 



ASTP Annual Conference, Vienna, Austria 22-24 May 2013
The general theme is : Best Practices in transfer of science and technology.The conference will be precededed on Wednesday 22 May afternoon by an N3 meeting in collaboration with ProTon-Europe and the national associations of TTOs.The full programme of the conference is available here. The registration is open online.
For ProTon-Europe 2013 institutional members, a delegate of the TTO will benefit from the personal ASTP discount on ASTP events registration fees.
 

First InnoMatNet Summer School, London, UK, Thursday, July 4, 2013 to Friday, July 5, 2013
The first InnoMatNet Summer School, on materials and design innovation, will be held in London during the "New Designers - Part Two" event (www.newdesigners.com), in an exciting collaboration with the UK's most important graduate design exhibition. This Summer School will inspire young designers and researchers about the possibilities of materials, old and new. It starts at the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining in central London on 4 July 2013 before moving to New Designers at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London on Friday 5th July. This event will include high-profile materials and design presentations within the New DesignersTalks Programme, in addition to hands-on workshop activities for the Summer School participants.
More information about this event can be found here
 

 
Proof of Concept Grant. Call for proposals. Deadlines 24 April and 03 October 2013
European Research Council (ERC) Proof of Concept Grant (Coordination and Support Action) provides additional funding to ERC grant holders to establish proof of concept, identify a development path and an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) strategy for ideas arising from an ERCfunded project.
Budget available EUR 10 millions. More details here
 
 
 
Pan-European survey on patent policy and on the "Grace period" issue
In line with the European patent reform, under the current patent system in most European countries, researchers who talk about their discoveries at a conference or publish in a journal before filing a patent application may have difficulty obtaining patent protection later on. Some say that it makes it harder to patent and inhibits inventors from speaking freely; others say it makes the patenting process more predictable and reduces legal disputes. Whatever your view, it's an important issue that has never been addressed adequately by the EU. An independent survey of TTO and corporate opinion is actually launched across Europe, conducted by the Science|Business Innovation Board. The survey takes 5 minutes. The outcome will be reported to you next year, and presented to the EU's Director-General for Internal Market.We strongly invite you to respond to the questionnaire on-line by clicking here
 
 
 
IPR Helpdesk fact sheet: How to manage trade secret information
With the aim to underline the importance of confidentiality for businesses, the European IPR Helpdesk (ProTon-Europe Partner ) published a fact sheet providing advice and practical hints on protection management of confidential business information, which could be beneficial in particular to small and micro entities. The documen t can be downloaded here
 
 
 
Academic Enterprise and EIT Awards Yearbook 2012.  All about the winning companies and how to promote entrepreneurship on campus
 Key lessons on making industry-university partnerships work:
1. University leadership is vital
2. Long-term strategic partnerships with built-in flexibility work best
3. Start with a shared vision and develop a strategy
4. Put the right people in charge, those who cross boundaries
5. Kick-start the dialogue, encourage cross-fertilisation of ideas
6. Don't get hung up on intellectual property (IP)
7. Promote a multidisciplinary approach to research and learning
8. Don't get hung up on measuring the results of a strategic alliance
9. Redefine the role of the research university as a source of competence and problem-solving for society

The empirical lessons in this research lead to some clear policy conclusions. They include:
1. Keep the ship steady. Policy makers need to ensure a predictable, stable environment of funding and regulation for long-term strategic partnerships to thrive.
2. Give universities the autonomy to operate effectively, and form partnerships. The best people to decide a university's strategy are its own board and faculty heads, not government ministries. Without freedom to operate, with appropriate checks and balances, they cannot form effective partnerships.
3. Reward activist, collaborative universities, and encourage more to be that way. Funding incentives work: government policy should reward, or at least not discourage, universities and companies that form strong partnerships. New government programmes, such as proposed by the EU and some national governments, should entice others to take the same step.
4. Help universities strive for excellence. Companies want to work with the best and so Europe must take care always to feed and promote its best universities, in order that more jobcreating partnerships can be formed. 
The whole report can be dowloaded here
 
Getting the Balance Right: Basic Research, Missions and Governance for Horizon 2020.
The proposed EUR80B Horizon 2020 programme should give greater weight to mission-driven, problem-solving research, and to post-research development concludes a new study done by Technopolis Group and  published by EARTO, the European Association of Research and Technology Organisations
The diagnoses of European needs in this paper and those that underlie Horizon 2020 are similar: while the quality of research needs to be improved, the key weaknesses of the European research and innovation system are in innovation activities. Doing more science will not repair those weaknesses. Rather, there is a need to expand mission-driven R&D for tackling industrial and societal needs. The European Research Council seems already to be doing a good job of encouraging quality improvements, in partnership with nationalresearch councils. The implications for Horizon 2020 are clear.
1. Focus resource increases on the innovation-relevant parts of the industrial and societal missions
2. Continue to fund a mixture of basic and applied research within those missions, but increase the effort on development and related functions
3. Maintain but do not increase the European Research Council effort; instead work in cooperation with national research councils to leverage the European level so as to raise national as well as European quality levels. The report can be downloaded here
 
 
 
EU: call for organisations to propose FP7 independent experts
Call addressed to organisations to propose lists of prospective independent experts to assist the Commission's services for tasks in connection with the Seventh RTD Framework Programme. The deadline for proposing experts is 31 July 2013.More information available here
 
 
BioVaria, Munich,  4 June 2013
BioVaria brings together Europe's top scientists and technology transfer professionals with potential licensees and investors from the international biopharmaceutical industry. In one interactive day, it showcases around 50 licensable life-science technologies originating from publicly funded research as well as some of Europe's most promising spin-offs. The conference is organized by Ascenion GmbH and a broad range of technology transfer organisations from all across Europe. Save the date and register online here
 
 
ACCESS TO FINANCE: report of the expert group on the cross-border matching of innovative firms with suitable investors.
DG Entreprise just published the report of the expert group where Michel Morant, Chair of ProTon Europe, advocated the views of the TTOs. The document can be dowloaded here
 
 
Liège Statement concluding the Proton-Europe Convention last 21 September
The Liège statement is available here
The French version is available here




 
Message from  Maire Geoghan-Quinn, EC Commissioner in charge of Research, Innovation and Science, addressed to the Proton-Europe convention in Liège
View the video by clicking here

 
Horizon 2020, Research articles to be accessible for free !
All the scientific results of research funded by Horizon 2020, the EU's new EUR80 billion research strategy must available free, announced Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes, unveiling a new open access strategy on Tuesday (17 July). In what she said is "big news" for any start-up or small company that can't afford scientific journals, Kroes claimed, This could help those businesses get their ideas to market two years earlier.? More info here


 
 
The Renaissance: will it happen? Innovating Europe out of the crisis ? 
DG Research published the third and final report of the ERA board 2012, with recommendations.
More information here
 
 
 
EC Report: Areas of untapped potential for the development of the European Research Area (ERA): an analysis of the response to the ERA Framework public consultation.
It gathered the views and evidence from stakeholders on what still prevents researchers, research institutions and businesses from circulating, competing and cooperating across borders. Thisreport analyses in depth the key messages from individual researchers and institutions. Their responses showed clearly the concerns that European researchers have about "careers and mobility", "research infrastructures" and "knowledge transfer" issues. In addition, one hundred position papers,including official responses from EU Member States and associated countries as well as of organisations representing the main European, international and national research actors give an appraisal of the importance of the different ERA issues. 
The report can be dowloaded here
 
 
 
Guide to Research & Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisations (RI3S)
DG Regional Policy published a methodological guidance for policy-makers and implementing bodies on how to design, draft and implement a national or regional research and innovation strategy for smart specialistation. With a lot of examples of Regional Strategies and of financial engineering instruments, this guide will help you to advocate your business and to suggest relevant proposals for your TTOs.
The guide can be downloaded here
 
 
Connecting Universities to Regional Growth: a practical Guide
DG Regional Policy and DG Education & Culture published this EU guide designed to enable public authorities to promote the active engagement of universities and other higher education institutions in regional innovation strategies for smart specialisation, in cooperation with research centres, businesses and partners in the civil society.
With usefull recommendations with examples of delivery mechanisms to maximise the effectiveness of universities in contribution to regional growth, this guide will help you to prepare Horizon 2020 and the next programming period 2014-2020.
The guide can be dowloaded here
 
 
Making Industry-University Partnerships Work: Lessons from succesful collaborations
Long-term strategic partnerships between universities and industry that run for 5 to 10 years are the most productive at driving innovation, according to a study published by the Science|Business Innovation Board AISBL, a not-for-profit scientific association create to improve the climate for innovation in Europe.
15 case-studies with recommenadations available here
 
 
 
Go Beyond: Early Stage Investor
Go Beyond rebrands with a new website




 
ProTon Europe Position Paper on the EC Green Paper on a common strategic framework for EU research and innovation funding
More info here
 
 
 
 
Executive summary of the analysis of the results of the public consultation organised by the EC on the Green Paper on a common strategi framework for EU research and innovation funding
More info here
 
 
 
Brussels proposes big rise in Research funding to EUR 80,2 billion for the period 2014-2020
The planned budget for the Horizon 2020 strategy, see the article here
See the budget proposed here
 
 
 
The Synergies Expert Group published his report on synergies between FP7, the CIP and the Cohesion Funds
Download the report here

 
 

PROTON EUROPE ROME' STATEMENT
Closing the last conference in Rome, Dr Michel Morant, Chair-Elect of ProTon Europe, made the final statement, supporting the Knowledge Transfer Professionals, with 5 major requests:
- Towards a strong regional cooperation
- Towards the European Innovation Union
- Recognition of KT Professionals
- Proof of Concept funding
- Impact of regular, comprehensive survey of KT activites
More details available here





 
New Guide for University to manage Intellectual Property
Download a copy here
 
 
 
 
European Commission's activities on patent valorisation 
The Commission explored the possibility of improving the economic exploitation or valorisation of patents by requesting a study on mechanisms at EU level for the trading of patents and licenses: 
"Creating a financial marketplace for IPR in Europe" from Fraunhofer -Moez and the Institute of Technology Management of the University St Gallen;
and by setting up an expert group to identify and look into additional possible options to improve IPR , such as IPR exchange platforms, services to enhance patent valorisation, patents funds: more details on
The expert group's report on "Options for an EU instrument for patent valorisation
 
 
The European Institue of Technology's  (EIT) to set up 3 new Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) by 2014
- Innovation for healthy living and active ageing
- food4future (sustainable food supply chain, from farm to fork)
- raw materials (sustainable exploration, extraction, processing, recycling and substitution of raw materials)
More details on the strategic programme and budget here
 


 
 
The Smart guide to Innovation-Based-Incubators
A study conducted by EBN for DG Enterprise, here
 
 


  
ERAWATCH
ERAWATCH is the European Commission's information platform on European, national and regional research systems and policies. Its main objectives are to support policy-making in the research field in Europe and to contribute to the realisation of the European Research Area (ERA).
All relevant data per country are avalble here




Technology Transfer to China.
Use the SME Centre in Beijing, here
A first quick approach of the Chinese rules on TT here
The China IPR SME Helpdesk is available here
 
 
 
WHERE IS EUROPE IN THE TOP 200 WORLD UNIVERSITY REPUTATION RANKINGS ?
More details here

 
 
 
 
The 2010 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard
Last August, the EC published the overall levels of R & D investment of the TOP 1000 companies, the performance of the EU and non-EU companies, based on the 2009 fiscal year accounts. The Scoreboard includes data per countries and industrial sectors. More details here 
 
 
 
 
How the Top Innovators keep winning ?
Booz & Company's annual study on the world's biggest R&D spenders, here
 
 
 
CURIE - INNOVATIONonline.eu  The French R & D and Innovation Guide online. 
Good to know for information and R&D contacts in France
More info


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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