Catalan universities claim knowledge transfer as a main engine for innovation and social impact
More than 150 professionals from different Catalan universities took part in the III Conference of the Catalan Universities' Transfer Offices, which took place last June 3rd in the auditorium of the UAB Faculty of Philosophy and Letters.
For the third year in a row, the transfer offices of Catalan universities joined forces to debate about the connexion between research and society, as well as create spaces for debating, exchanging, and learning amongst the professionals that promote collaboration with the socio-economic environment from within institutions.
The general director of Transfer and Knowledge Society at the Catalan Government, Javier Selva, opened the conference highlighting the importance of knowledge transfer as a strategic pillar to make Catalonia one of the most innovative regions in Europe. “The strategic plan for the promotion of knowledge transfer of the Catalan Government wagers precisely to transform the R&D system prioritising transfer and private-public collaboration”.
The UAB vice-chancellor of Innovation, Transfer, and Entrepreneurship, Rosa Maria Sebastián, declared that “this conference has established itself as a benchmark event for university transfer professionals in Catalonia, offering a platform to share good practices, establish synergies, and collectively rethink connection strategies between academic research and the social and economic challenges of the country”.
Next, Xavier Vallvé, director of the UAB Office of Knowledge Transfer and Research Valorisation, introduced indicators and results of the knowledge transfer activities of public Catalan universities. From 2021 to 2023, 203 new patents were applied for, 211 transfer accords were signed (which in turn generated 7.4M€), and 35 spin-offs were created.
Simon Hepworth, knowledge transfer director at Research England, oversaw the main conference. Under the title “The Future of University Innovation, and how to get there”, Hepworth explored the evolution of university spin-offs, the funding challenges to escalate deep tech and the public policies to strengthen the innovation ecosystem through his experience at the Imperial College London and TenU. “The future is a university propelled by its mission, that integrates basic research, applied sciences, innovation, and social justice, not as separated compartments but as a continuous pipeline from lab to real life”, concluded.
The day continued with a session on communication strategies to create impact on knowledge transfer by Anna Cano, project manager at Iuris.doc. Cano showed practical examples on formats and outreach materials to make transfer viable, understandable, and relevant for people that can transform it into impact: businesses, the market, and society.
The last session of the day was focused on designing, explaining and measuring impact on research and transfer projects. Toni Bassaganyas, from the Strategy Area at Institució CERCA, went on to explain what we understand for impact and the implications it has on the research project. “We must corroborate the connection between research and impact, demonstrating that impact has happened”, declared. It is especially important not to mix the indicators of knowledge transfer or dissemination. “The final goal when focusing on impact is that the research ecosystem eases the generation of excellent research and that the potential benefits from said research translate into real social changes”.
Juan Solís, CEO at Arvor, focused on how to measure the impact of research valorisation projects and how to prepare them during each phase to get funding and make them scalable. “It is important to assess and anticipate the impact of a project according to its stage of development and its level of technological maturity”, highlighted.
The event, carried out with the support of the University Entrepreneurship Network (XEU) and the Department of Research and Universities of the Generalitat de Catalunya, was attended by technical and management staff from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), the University of Barcelona (UB), the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), the University of Girona (UdG), the University of Lleida (UdL), the Rovira i Virgili University (URV), the Ramon Llull University (URL), the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), the University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC), the International University of Catalonia (UIC Barcelona) and the Abat Oliba CEU University (UAO CEU).
