Technology Transfer Offices Research Articles

Commercializing University Innovations: A Sense-Making Perspective to Communicate Between Academics and Industry

Technology transfer offices (TTOs) play a key role in helping universities commercialize research and distribute knowledge. Nonetheless, there remains an incomplete understanding of the communication, which takes place between academics, industry partners, and TTO staff. The aim of this article is to examine, with the use of sense-making theory, strategies used by TTO employees as they work with academics and industry partners to commercialize intellectual property. In order to achieve this aim, an ethnographic exploratory case study was undertaken at a university TTO. The collected information then became the basis for qualitative interviews with TTO staff from 13 universities in Scotland. The study contributes to the sense-making theory by explaining how, during the commercialization conversations, TTO employees can deliberately interrupt the sense-making process through “dumbing down.” Our research introduces the TTO employee as a mediator and examines the role of the TTO staff in facilitating the sense-making process. The findings illustrate how someone who is not an expert in the field can add to the sense-making process. The study suggests that TTO employees intentionally engage in a “dumbing down process” to make complicated conversations easy to understand.

Technology Transfer Offices for Better Management of The University-Industry Collaboration: Comparison of Slovenia, Italy, And Malta

Technology Transfer Offices for Better Management of The University-Industry Collaboration: Comparison of Slovenia, Italy, And Malta

Technology transfer offices in the diffusion of transformative innovation: Rethinking roles, resources, and capabilities

Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) serve as intermediaries supporting the commercialization of new technologies in the market, with the aim of enhancing economic competitiveness. Recently, there has been a growing recognition of innovation's role in addressing societal challenges, referred to as transformative innovation. In this context, TTOs are expanding their scope and mission, tasked with acting as intermediaries aligning societal needs—beyond mere market demands—with potentially transformative technological solutions.This paper empirically explores how TTOs interpret this new expanded role and examines as well the organizational resources and capabilities they mobilize to enact that role. We compare two TTOs that have recently been involved in projects related to the diffusion of transformative innovation. Our empirical findings reveal a disconnect between the prescribed expanded role of TTOs and their actual interpretation of that role. Additionally, TTOs lack the flexible mandates necessary for engaging in transformative innovation diffusion and the expertise to assess societal needs and impacts. They also face challenges in collaborating and co-creating with unfamiliar social actors. Rethinking the roles, resources, and capabilities of TTOs can help address this misalignment operationally.

FOSTERING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AWARENESS IN ACADEMIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The importance of Intellectual Property (IP) in academic entrepreneurship, emphasises a need for specialised knowledge of IP law in university Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs), and general awareness of IP rules amongst university researchers, research assistants, and other university personnel. This helps not only in preventing the inadvertent loss of valuable IP, but also the infringement of IP owned by other parties, which could result in costly law suits. Equally, knowledge of IP law is indispensable to the effective negotiation of licences, and the drafting of contracts that cater for the interests of both universities and industry. The objective of this article is, accordingly, to provide academic entrepreneurs with insights into IP regimes. This should help them in identifying valuable IP, and in ensuring that protection is not compromised. It will also help in determining the modes of protection suitable for particular forms of IP, how to manage acquired rights, and tackle infringements. In the following sections, we discuss these issues from the perspectives of several jurisdictions. Traversing our discussion is an examination of university IP policies, and relevant case law, which should enhance understanding. The last segment of the article concludes and reiterates the importance of IP awareness in academic entrepreneurship. Therefore, this article aims at fostering awareness of IP regimes amongst academic entrepreneurs.

The Intersections of Innovation

To unlock the power of creativity and innovation, it is very important to engage the entire in- novation ecosystem so that the full potential can be unveiled. These collaborative intersectional spaces between different disciplines — academia-industry, faculty-administration, and faculty-students — can open new dimensions for creative excellence, and thus, such intersectional spaces need to be created and nurtured. To this end, here, the pillars of innovation: creativity, motivation, ecosystem, and support, are discussed and their impacts on generating innovations are presented. While existing challenges in the academic setting are acknowledged, the role of faculty and the technology transfer offices and their positive interactions have a very critical role in the success of generating impactful innovations and their transfer to commercialization. In addition to the pillars of innovation, diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice are crucial components for creating impactful and sustainable innovations. Embracing diversity in all its forms, providing equitable opportunities for all, fostering an inclusive environment, and ensuring justice for all members of the ecosystem can lead to a broad range of perspectives and ideas, ultimately resulting in more creative and impactful solutions to the current and future challenges of the 21st century.

The Next Generation of Innovation

Developing the next generation of innovators will require universities to move away from traditional, rigid structures to enable more synergistic collaborations while redefining/reinventing the delivery and content of curriculum programs. This will include improved partnerships between industry and institutional technology transfer offices, the latter being the main artery that currently connects industry and universities. While innovation and education go hand in hand, today's generation of future leaders is deeply committed to social impact and embarking on new ventures that capture those values. This article will present a forward-looking perspective on some of the best practices to help future entrepreneurial leaders innovate while informing educational practices to best prepare students to navigate and mitigate the risks and barriers that have long prevented the participation of diverse and inclusive individuals.

To what extent do universities’ formal and informal knowledge exchange activities interact: evidence from UK HE-BCI survey

Third Mission engagement has become a necessary vehicle to transfer science and knowledge from higher education institutions (HEIs) to society. An extensive body of research has mainly focused on the determinants of research commercialization, and the consequence of knowledge exchange activities largely carried out on an individual academic level. There is a lack of theoretical and empirical evidence on the link and interaction between formal (traditionally referred to as commercialization of university research, such as patent, licensing and spin-off) and informal knowledge exchange activities (usually denoted as university community engagement activities, such as collaborative research, consultancy, facilities and equipment, continuing professional development etc.). In this article we seek to fill this gap by viewing knowledge exchange activities as an enabler and supporter of commercial activities. Against this background, we intend to provide an analysis into the relationship between informal activities and formal activities using an unbalanced panel of UK universities for the period 2005–2020. Our results reveal that while provision of continuing professional development courses, facilities and equipment, and consultancy significantly impact commercial activities such as patenting and licensing, collaborative research appears to be a strong predictor for spin-offs generation. This study offers some general implications for HEIs’ policy and Technology Transfer Offices.

Exploring high-throughput synchrotron X-Ray powder diffraction for the structural analysis of pharmaceuticals

Synchrotron radiation offers a host of advanced properties, surpassing conventional laboratory sources with its high brightness, tunable phonon energy, photon beam coherence for advanced X-ray imaging, and a structured time profile, ideal for capturing dynamic atomic and molecular processes. However, these benefits come at the cost of operational complexity and expenses. Three decades ago, synchrotron radiation facilities, while technically open to all scientists, primarily served a limited community. Despite substantial accessibility improvements over the past two decades, synchrotron measurements still do not qualify as routine analyses. The intrinsic complexity of synchrotron science means experiments are pursued only when no alternatives suffice. In recent years, strides have been made in technology transfer offices, intermediate synchrotron-based analytical service companies, and the development of high-throughput synchrotron systems at various facilities, reshaping the perception of synchrotron science. This article investigates the practical application of synchrotron X-Ray Powder Diffraction (s-XRPD) techniques in pharmaceutical analysis. By utilizing concrete examples, we demonstrate how high-throughput systems have the potential to revolutionize s-XRPD applications in the pharmaceutical industry, rapidly generating XRPD patterns of comparable or superior quality to those obtained in state-of-the-art laboratory XRPD, all in less than 5 s. Additional cases featuring well-established pharmaceutical active ingredients (API) and excipients substantiate the concept of high throughput in pharmaceuticals, affirming data quality through structural refinements aligned with literature-derived unit cell parameters. Synchrotron data need not always be state-of-the-art to compete with lab-XRPD data. The key lies in ensuring user-friendliness, reproducibility, accessibility, cost-effectiveness, and the streamlined efforts associated with synchrotron instrumentation to remain highly competitive with their laboratory counterparts.

The role of investors in developing academic spin offs: The biotech sector in South Africa

Background: While research on commercialisation of academic research suggests that close interaction among academic entrepreneurs, technology transfer officers and investors can aid developing academic spin-offs, we argue that the role of investors is underdeveloped in the literature.Aim: This paper aims to build new theoretical and empirical knowledge about the investor’s role in developing academic spin-offs. Focus is put on the interaction and dynamic relationship between investors, academic entrepreneurs and technology transfer office executives in academic spin-off (ASO) development.Setting: The research is empirical in nature and conducted in the entrepreneurial ecosystem surrounding universities in the Western Cape area in South Africa.Methods: The research is qualitative with a focus on conducting research interviews with knowledgeable respondents. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from investors and other stakeholders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Western Cape area in South Africa.Results: Four themes were uncovered. The study demonstrates a challenge of commercialising research-based inventions; both the team and the entrepreneur play an important role in the commercialisation process; investors can play a role in educating and coaching academic entrepreneurs and play a brokering role in attracting venture capital (VC) funding.Conclusion: The study concludes that the pre-investment behaviour of investors, in relationship with technology transfer offices (TTOs) and academic entrepreneurs, may help mitigate assumed information asymmetries and uncertainty in ASO development.Contribution: The research contributes to the literature by showing how investors’ perception, pre-investment behaviour and vision shape the development of ASOs in a dynamic interaction with technology transfer executives and academic entrepreneurs.

Study on the Relationship between Research Incentive Mechanisms and Research Outcome Commercialization in Private Higher Education Institutions

This research delves into the intricate relationship between research incentive mechanisms and the commercialization of research outcomes in private higher education institutions (PHEIs). Private higher education institutions have emerged as key players in the global academic landscape, and understanding their strategies for motivating research activities and translating them into real-world applications is paramount. Our study investigates the impact of various research incentive mechanisms, including financial incentives and academic recognition, on research productivity within PHEIs. Through a mixed-methods approach, combining surveys, interviews, and document analysis, we uncover the nuances of these mechanisms and their influence on faculty members, researchers, and administrators. Furthermore, we assess the effectiveness of technology transfer offices (TTOs) in facilitating the commercialization of research outcomes. TTOs serve as critical intermediaries, bridging the gap between academia and industry. We analyze their performance, challenges, and potential strategies for improvement. Case studies from private colleges offer valuable insights into the practical aspects of research outcomes commercialization. These real-world examples highlight the strategies employed and the impact on regional economic development and societal progress. Our research contributes to a comprehensive understanding of how PHEIs harness research incentives to enhance research productivity and drive successful commercialization outcomes. This knowledge is pivotal for policymakers, institutional leaders, and researchers aiming to maximize the impact of research conducted within private higher education institutions.

Exploring the pathway of academic entrepreneurs: The case of Stellenbosch University

Background: Universities globally face challenges of becoming entrepreneurial, delivering third mission activities, including the support of academic entrepreneurship. Abundant research exists on academic entrepreneurs in the United Sates (USA) and Europe. Limited research exists on understanding pathways of academic entrepreneurship in South African Universities.Aim: The aim was to critically review the pathway of research commercialisation of academics at a research-intensive university.Setting: This single case study focuses on one research-intensive university; a pioneer in the field of academic entrepreneurship in South Africa.Methods: A qualitative research approach following a single-case study design was selected to investigate a phenomenon within its natural setting, using purposeful sampling and semi-structured interviews. The data were thematically analysed.Results: The nature of research outputs takes a hybrid form, the awareness of the commercialisation of research is ineffectively communicated, supporting mechanisms Technology Transfer Office (TTO) are in place, factors hampering research commercialisation include time constraints and academics’ willingness to partner with the university.Conclusion: Context is bi-modal, meaning the institution is orientated towards basic research, Mode 1, while there is a transition of the research culture towards commercialisation of research, Mode 2, contributing to ineffective communication within the institution. Commercialisation extends the life cycle of research, and the recognition for publication in ranking metrics contributes to tension between commercialisation and publication of research.Contribution: Theoretically, this baseline study provided insights into the pathway of Academic Entrepreneurship in the context of an intensive-research university. Managerially, this article reflects that ineffective communication of transition from Mode 1 to Mode 2 leads to internal tension.

An Investigation on Knowledge-Based Entrepreneurship in Higher Education

Purpose: This section provides an overview of the article's main objective and scope. It introduces the concept of knowledge-based entrepreneurship in higher education institutions and sets the stage for the research's exploration of its various aspects, including drivers, challenges, and transformative impacts.
 
 Theoretical Framework: This section discusses the theoretical underpinnings and concepts that guide the research. It mentions how universities have evolved from traditional knowledge disseminators to hubs for entrepreneurial initiatives and outlines the theoretical foundation upon which the study is built.
 
 Methodology: This part briefly outlines the research methodology employed in the study. It mentions the systematic analysis of existing literature as the primary research approach and highlights the study's focus on knowledge transfer, collaborative relationships, and the role of Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs).
 
 Findings: This section summarizes the key findings of the research. It touches upon the pivotal role of universities in the knowledge economy, the mechanisms of knowledge transfer, and the significance of TTOs in facilitating knowledge-based entrepreneurship. It provides an overview of the transformative potential highlighted in the study.
 
 Research, Practical & Social Implications: This part discusses the broader implications of the research. It highlights how the findings impact academia, industry, and society at large. It mentions the need for collaborative efforts and how knowledge-based entrepreneurship can drive economic growth, technological advancement, and societal progress.
 
 Originality/Value: This section underscores the uniqueness and value of the research. It emphasizes the contribution of the study to the understanding of knowledge-based entrepreneurship and its role in fostering collaboration between academia and industry. It also mentions the potential for innovation and resilience in the future.

An Investigation on Knowledge-Based Entrepreneurship in Higher Education

Purpose: This section provides an overview of the article's main objective and scope. It introduces the concept of knowledge-based entrepreneurship in higher education institutions and sets the stage for the research's exploration of its various aspects, including drivers, challenges, and transformative impacts.
 
 Theoretical Framework: This section discusses the theoretical underpinnings and concepts that guide the research. It mentions how universities have evolved from traditional knowledge disseminators to hubs for entrepreneurial initiatives and outlines the theoretical foundation upon which the study is built.
 
 Methodology: This part briefly outlines the research methodology employed in the study. It mentions the systematic analysis of existing literature as the primary research approach and highlights the study's focus on knowledge transfer, collaborative relationships, and the role of Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs).
 
 Findings: This section summarizes the key findings of the research. It touches upon the pivotal role of universities in the knowledge economy, the mechanisms of knowledge transfer, and the significance of TTOs in facilitating knowledge-based entrepreneurship. It provides an overview of the transformative potential highlighted in the study.
 
 Research, Practical & Social Implications: This part discusses the broader implications of the research. It highlights how the findings impact academia, industry, and society at large. It mentions the need for collaborative efforts and how knowledge-based entrepreneurship can drive economic growth, technological advancement, and societal progress.
 
 Originality/Value: This section underscores the uniqueness and value of the research. It emphasizes the contribution of the study to the understanding of knowledge-based entrepreneurship and its role in fostering collaboration between academia and industry. It also mentions the potential for innovation and resilience in the future.

(Invited) Iron Flow Battery with Slurry Electrode for Large Scale Energy Storage: Scale-up, Commercialization, and IP Challenges in an Academic Environment

Large-scale energy storage is required to meet a multitude of current energy challenges. These challenges include modernizing the grid, incorporating intermittent renewable energy sources (so as to dispatch continuous electrical energy), improving the efficiency of electricity transmission and distribution, and providing flexibility of storage independent of geographical and geological location.Through efforts supported by ARPA-E and the Department of Energy Office of Electricity, one technology we are developing utilizes an approach based on sustainable, low cost iron electrolytes in an iron flow battery (IFB). Advantages of the IFB include abundant, non-toxic, and non-corrosive materials that are used to provide an energy storage solution that has inherently safe operation and is environmentally friendly. In our approach to the all iron RFB, we introduced a flowing carbon slurry as the negative electrode as a substrate for plating iron during charging allowing storage of the plated iron in a tank external to the stack. This configuration decouples energy and power capacities. The work supported by DOE allowed us to address challenges encountered in scaling up from small laboratory cells to a large commercial size slurry IFB single cell. 1 In this presentation, we will address some of the challenges we encountered for demonstrating the technology within an academic environment in order to position it for commercial development. Even with funding to overcome the valley-of-death and technology-to-market assistance given by ARPA-E, we faced many challenges including hiring expertise to address scale-up, design and testing. We will discuss challenges faced with identifying partners and licensees for moving discovery to product. Also, we will describe the many types of interactions we had with the university Technology Transfer Office including patent disclosure, IP protection, and negotiating licenses. Acknowledgements: This research was supported by ARPA-E contract DE-AR0000352. Partial support also was received from the DOE Office of Electricity Award #1111358,0 under Dr. Imre Gyuk. 1N.S. Sinclair, R.F. Savinell and J.S. Wainright, MRS Energy & Sustainability, 2022; doi: 10.1557/s43581-022-00046-8

Technology commercialization: tools for offering technologies protected through intellectual property

The commercialization of technology is an important process for generating innovation in a society, because, when a technology is developed and patented, it needs to be transferred to be implemented and become useful to the community, which often does not occur, because, technology transfer is not guaranteed, as well as its technology offering sub-process. Thus, the study issue is the gap between technology development, technology transfer, and more specifically the offer of technology to potential customers. Seeking to identify methods and tools to offer technology and systematically develop a robust guideline to be followed for offering technologies from Technology Transfer Offices (TTO), uniting the main methods found. Through the systematic literature review, information from several authors who study or correlate their studies with the proposed theme, seeks to condense this information and complement a practical solution developed through Design Science Research. That said, the main facilitators of technology offer and transfer were identified from a solid and current literature review, generating an ideal foundation for the development of a systemic artifact that seeks to serve as a robust guideline to be followed for the provision of technologies from of TTO. So that the technology offer process of the technology transfer offices of the various Science and Technology Institutes is viable and efficient, seeking greater effectiveness and commitment of new technologies as innovation for the social body as a whole.

Motivations for University-Industry Interaction: A Typology of Academic Scientists at the National University of Colombia

In recent decades there has been an intensification of reflections on university-industry interaction as a mechanism for promoting innovation in countries, especially those characterized by a fragile collaboration between science and technology organizations and the productive apparatus. This article examines Colombian academic scientists who collaborate with industry, understanding their motivations and the interaction channels they use. To do this, a qualitative-type research study was conducted through semi-structured interviews with fifteen scientists and three employees involved in technology transfer programs at the National University of Colombia. As a result, we identified heterogeneous positions regarding the university-industry interaction and proposed four groups: i) “Circumstantial collaborators,” who have sporadic contact with industry; ii) “Independent,” who develop their own initiatives through spin-offs with sporadic contacts with industry; iii) “Integrated,” who see industry as a strategic partner and do not wish to undertake entrepreneurship; and iv) “Academic entrepreneurs,” who create spin-offs and see industry as a strategic partner. The main contribution of this work is the typology of academic scientists in the context of a Latin American country, which has implications for technology transfer offices in universities, with a recommendation towards creating typology-based programs, since the incentives that work for one type of scientist may not be the right fit for others.

Factors, Routes, and Existing Theories of Technology Commercialization in University: A Conceptual Framework

<p>Technology commercialization in universities which consists of three phases, namely basic research, commercialization feasibility, and commercialization runs non-linearly and goes through licensing and spin-off creation. To achieve commercialization success, there are eight influencing factors, namely academic entrepreneur, role of technology, availability of market, availability of finance, intermediaries' support (i.e. University Technology Transfer Office (UTTO), university's incubator, and proof of concept center), role of collaborative research center, policy support, and regional infrastructure and environment. Meanwhile, the existing management theories that discuss the commercialization of technology in universities mostly use a resource perspective such as Resource-Based View (RBV), resource orchestration theory, and dynamic capabilities with university and spin-offs as unit of analysis. This literature study provides several recommendations for future studies. First, it needs to expand the analysis not limited to licensing and spin-off, and second, it is suggested to develop a resource perspective by enriching what dimensions influence the success of a technology commercialization in universities or provide alternative new management theories in understanding technology commercialization in university.</p>

Comparison of State and Private Universities in Turkiye in terms of Instruction and R& D Regarding the Reports of the Turkish Council of Higher Education (YÖK)

Turkish Council of Higher Education (YÖK) started to publish University Monitoring and Evaluation General Reports since 2019. Three reports (2019-2020-2021) have been published. Average annual data of state and private universities in Turkey are available in these reports. These reports also include data about various aspects of university education under the titles of Instruction and Research & Development (R&D). This study aims to determine pros and cons of state and private universities for Turkish and international university applicants by comparing the data averages of the 2019, 2020 and 2021 reports about the Instruction and the Research & Development (R&D) of both university types. Under the Instruction title; data about number of accredited undergraduate programs, occupancy rate of the programs, number of students participating in teknokent (technopole) or technology transfer office (TTO) projects, number of programs in the top 5% of the public servant selection exam (KPSS), number of international symposiums, congresses or artistic exhibitions, number of social responsibility projects implemented by students, number of industrial projects implemented by students and number of printed books and e-publications for each student were examined. Under the Research & Development title; data about number of publications published in national peer-reviewed journals and in SCI, SCI-Expanded, SSCI and AHCI indexed journals, number of cited publications in the top 10%, number of applied and granted patents, utility models and designs, number of R&D projects supported by national and international institutions and organizations, ratio of investment budget spent on R&D, income except for subsidy, innovation and product development income from laboratory services within the scope of R&D and number of joint projects with industry were examined. Document analysis method was used in the study as a qualitative research method. Document analysis includes the analysis of written materials containing information about the phenomenon or facts to be investigated. In the field of education: Textbooks, instructional regulations, internal and external correspondence, official documents... can be used as data source (Yıldırım and Şimşek, 2013, pp.217-218). Data averages of state and private universities were evaluated. Data differences among universities in same category were not included. The results shows that both state and private universities have pros and cons in terms of instruction and R&D, but state universities are advantageous regarding data numbers and diversity. While private universities are profit-oriented and attach importance to individual development, state universities are more collaborative and are community-oriented. Keywords: state university, private university, universities in Turkiye, instruction, R&D

Universities' entrepreneurship mission in a Dynamic Capability approach: A multicase study in south Brazil

Objective of the study: In order to understand how universities in south Brazil have been developing their entrepreneurship mission this study aimed to analyze the role of their Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) by the lens of the dynamic capability theory, considering sensing, seizing and transforming practices. Methodology/approach: qualitative approach, and a multiple case study strategy, 31 semi-structured interviews were carried out with different actors linked to university TTOs as well as documentary research. Main results: The results reveal that sensing, seizing, and transforming practices have been adopted by the university TTOs and are supporting them to face the new scenario in higher education represented by entrepreneurial and innovational demands. Theoretical contributions: They consist on a debate on how universities in Brazil are strategically managing their practices in order to adapt to a new era in higher education throughout the development of dynamic capabilities. Relevance/originality: This research provides an in‐depth process analysis including the microfoundations of dynamic capabilities to the development and the advance of the third mission of the universities, contributing to the study’s originality. Management contributions: The managemental contribution of this study is to offer a view of new modes and practices for other universities that are seeking to operate in an entrepreneurial dimension.

Intellectual property coordinators' cohorts: A study into the imprints in university technology transfer

The primary aim of Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) is to enhance technology transfers, resulting in the commercialization of science. Technology transfer has typically been analyzed at the individual level of the core research staff or with the focus on the TTO as a whole, overlooking the fact that the university technology transfer is administered by intellectual property (IP) coordinators. This paper focuses on exposing a potentially crucial factor in technology transfer; the effects of cohorts based on imprinting. The imprinting theory implies that imprints are persistent and manifest themselves in the core activities of the IP coordinators' cohorts in the long term. We bring to light the effects of IP coordinators' cohorts on patenting and licensing, and test a conceptual model of inter-cohort variability. We analyze the patenting and licensing data of 18,393 patent cases and 845 licensed cases, handled by 63 IP coordinators. In combination with human resource data, we show that in the technology transfer process, IP coordinators’' cohorts matter. Using discriminant analysis, we demonstrate that some aspects of technology transfer activities are more typical for one cohort than the others. Variations between cohorts suggest that they are influenced by the prevailing practices inside the TTO at the time of hiring. Cohort patterns are also distinct in the two key technology transfer activities (patenting and licensing). Regression analysis shows that cohort effects remain resistant to erosion even when faced with subsequent changes as captured by organizational and individual time-period effects.