According to the Joint Research Centre (2020), 21 European Union (EU) research institutions are among the top 100 research institutions worldwide. However, as much as 95% of European patents remain non-commercialized.
This highlights a significant issue in knowledge transfer and the application of scientific knowledge in the market. Additionally, the European Innovation Scoreboard (2023) reveals that annual innovation performance of the EU has improved at a reduced rate of 0.6% compared to previous years, further emphasizing the need to strengthen knowledge commercialization processes in European higher education institutions.
The international project "Connecting European Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem through Knowledge Valorisation Ambassadors" (CEETNOVA), launched in October 2024, aims to address these challenges. CEETNOVA is a KA2 Erasmus+ project designed to strengthen knowledge valorisation (KV) within the European innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. The goal of the project is to empower higher education institutions to lead in KV processes by training "Knowledge Valorisation Ambassadors" and enhancing the competencies of PhD students, researchers, Postdocs, senior academic staff, and non-academic staff through targeted development tools and methodologies, ultimately fostering more effective knowledge application and commercialization. The project duration is 30 months.
Knowledge Valorisation refers to the creation of social and economic value from knowledge by linking various fields and sectors, transforming data and research results into sustainable products and solutions that benefit society – ensuring economic prosperity, environmental benefits, progress, and better policy-making.
The project is coordinated by the University of Stavanger (Norway) and is conducted in collaboration with four other European universities: Kaunas University of Technology (Lithuania), Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain), University of Trento (Italy), and Linköping University (Sweden). All these universities are members of the European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU). Their collective aim is to create an international academic community, where members enhance their qualifications and share knowledge to strengthen Europe’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.
“The main activity in the project is to develop a training package for valorisation with a focus on topics such as green transition, technology transfer and stronger cooperation between universities and society. We aim to train 100 ambassadors for knowledge valorisation and get them use the theoretical knowledge through co-creation workshops that will be arranged with the regional stakeholders. Thus, they will act as ‘Knowledge Valorisation Ambassadors’ in their respective ecosystems”, says CEETNOVA project leader Utku Ali Riza Alpaydin from University of Stavanger.
The project will also contribute to European-level objectives. One such objective is the European Commission’s (EC) 2022 recommendation on guidelines for enhancing the value of knowledge, which encourages the application of research results in society and the economy. The EC emphasizes the importance of innovation ecosystems, closer collaboration between academia and business, and greater involvement of policymakers in knowledge transfer processes. These guidelines aim to strengthen the impact of research and enhance Europe's competitiveness in innovation.
More news and project webpage coming soon.
