Guiding valorisation: building on our strengths

In the summer of 2022, the Commission launched several initiatives to foster innovation in Europe. The New European Innovation Agenda (NEIA), addressing five bottlenecks to position Europe as a leading player on the global innovation scene, was published on 7 July 2022. The LERU statement Bottlenecks to be addressed by the new European Innovation Agenda provides input as to how each of the bottlenecks can be addressed, stressing the essential role of research universities in the innovation ecosystem. The European Network of Innovative Higher Education Institutions (ENIHEI), for the development of collective innovative thinking on how higher education can drive innovation, was launched at the Education and Innovation Summit of 23 June 2022.

Most recently, on 9 August, the Proposal for a Council recommendation on the guiding principles for knowledge valorisation was released. The proposal aims to maximise the value of the R&I investments beyond the traditional knowledge transfer and to help fill knowledge valorisation gaps across Member States. The proposal is expected to be adopted by the Competitiveness (COMPET) Council end of 2022, early 2023.

LERU welcomes the attention paid to innovation and valorising research results and scientific knowledge, a key process to deliver new solutions to global challenges and opportunities created under the green and digital transformation. LERU supports the guiding principles as a valuable framework to the various actors and professionals involved in the process.

However, it is crucial to recognise the role of universities in the implementation of the guiding principles. Universities are embedded in local innovation ecosystems and cover the whole technology readiness level (TRL) spectrum, including deep-tech. Moreover, they are a wellspring of (entrepreneurial) talent and technology, and a convenor of innovation actors in providing platforms and programs where enterprise, government and investors can connect and interact.

The LERU statement ‘Guiding valorisation: building on our strengths’ therefore aims to contribute to the Commission’s initiative by sharing reflections on the role and impact of universities and their TTOs, as reflected in the LERU paper The TTO, a university engine transforming science into innovation.

Prof. Kurt Deketelaere, LERU Secretary-General states:

“After the publication of the NEIA, which unfortunately completely disregards the role of research universities in the innovation chain, and the launch of the ENIHEI, which lacks important innovative universities, we finally welcome the Commission’s interest in including the experience of research-intensive universities to bring knowledge valorisation in Europe to a higher level through these guiding principles.”

Prof. Koen Debackere, executive director of KU Leuven Research & Development says:

“Europe’s research-intensive universities have developed distinctive strengths in conceiving, designing, and implementing valorisation strategies. The combined talent and knowledge base they have developed across the full TRL spectrum makes them highly valuable partners in the innovation journeys that are at the heart of the European innovation agenda. They look forward to contributing.” ​

Dr Leonard Hobbs, Director of Trinity Research & Innovation at Trinity College Dublin adds:

“We very much welcome the broadening of the scope of the valorisation initiatives and we very much look forward to transforming knowledge from the breadth of the research-intensive university intellectual capacity by applying the same entrepreneurial acumen and technology transfer rigour as has been developed in areas such as technology and life sciences.“