Pat Frain, Director of NovaUCD, the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre at University College Dublin, has been elected the 2011 Chair of ProTon Europe.
ProTon Europe, headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, is the pan-European association of knowledge transfer organisations linked to universities and public research organisations. Over 160 knowledge transfer organisations, including NovaUCD, are members. Frain, who was previously chair of the association in 2008, was elected during ProTon Europe’s 8th annual conference at the end of January.
Countries around Europe are working hard to encourage innovation and knowledge transfer as a stimulus for economic growth, Frain notes. “In order to ensure that this stimulus can generate sustainable benefits it is essential to build long-term strategic partnerships between universities and business, he said. “Such partnerships must be mutually beneficial with an appropriate balance between industrial objectives and academic priorities, and should be characterised by a high degree of overlap between academic research interests and the technology pull from industry,” said Frain.
ProTon Europe was established in 2003 by the European Commission to promote European innovation by increasing the effectiveness of knowledge transfer and collaboration between public research organisations and industry.
According to Frain one of the main roadblocks is money. “Entrepreneurs, including researcher/academic entrepreneurs, need increased access to capital to develop and test their inventions. Greater continuity in the financing chain from idea to business is essential so that promising innovative projects are not lost due to the lack of capital.”
Another problem is Europe’s fragmented intellectual property system. “The continuing failure to reach agreement on a single European patent to replace the costly and complex system currently in place is a significant obstacle to effective knowledge transfer from public research institutions to the market,” Frain said.
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