Europe’s top scientists show flair for innovation

Davide Iannuzzi fingered a piece of optical fibre as he told the story of his journey from physics researcher to entrepreneur – a path not often trodden in Europe. In 2005, having just set up a research team at the VU University Amsterdam, the Italian-born physicist became intrigued with the notion of transforming the tip of optical fibre, which carries light, into a whole new generation of miniature optical sensors.

“I always wanted to do something with impact,” says Iannuzzi, who proved the concept feasible, applied for a patent and in 2011 launched a start-up to bring the technology to market – all while carrying on with his university research. The technology is now being tested in 20 laboratories in nine countries, with applications ranging from cell biology and surgery to landslide monitoring.

Iannuzzi was one of 11 recipients of a European Research Council (ERC) Proof-of-Concept grant, who pitched commercial their technologies to R&D executives and venture investors at a forum in Brussels on Tuesday (5 February) organised by the Science|Business Innovation Board.

The pitches, which included biomaterials for bone generation, diagnostics for cancer, a process to generate random numbers, and technology to remove nitrogen from waste water, highlighted the huge innovation potential of European science - if academics and industry can overcome traditional barriers and work closer together.

“Whatever happens in frontier research is of interest to business and society at large,” said ERC President Helga Nowotny. “This has to be taken up on the other side. It is something of mutual benefit, but both sides have to take up the opportunity.”

Shaping academic research to attract private investment

The ERC, created in 2007 to support basic research in Europe based on scientific excellence, launched the Proof-of Concept grants in 2011 to help Europe’s leading academics translate their research to market. The grants offer up to €150,000 to existing ERC grant holders seeking to establish the commercial potential of their basic research and bridge the funding gap, or valley of death, between a scientific discovery made in an academic laboratory and a concept which can attract backing from private investors. 

The financial crisis and burgeoning budget deficits have catapulted innovation to a top policy priority. By encouraging Europe’s most talented scientists to focus - as US counterparts do - on the innovation potential of their basic research breakthroughs, EU policymakers hope to pave the way for a new generation of world-class technology companies and speed the development of new products and services that can transform industries, benefit society and ensure future economic growth.

“There is much less of a boundary separating fundamental research labs and the world of business and industry in the US,” said Nowotny. “We should have an open door policy [in Europe]. Technology developed in the lab can be used outside for other purposes.”

Talk to each other

To overcome lingering mutual mistrust between European scientists and industry executives, experts at the forum recommended boosting informal dialogue, to build trust and cement new relationships — such as pairing a scientist with an industry manager to meet once a month. “For researchers, a problem faced by industry is not a problem — it’s a challenge,” said Anne Glover, chief scientific adviser to the President of the European Commission. “They say to themselves, ‘I could fix that.’ We need to link up two groups that don’t talk to each other.”

Another key challenge is that scientists don’t always make the best entrepreneurs – even if their role in the innovation process is vital. “If you are an investor in quite a lot of start-up companies, as we are, tragically, very often you have to fire the chief technology officer,’ said David Eyton, group head of technology at BP. “The skills around invention and research are not necessarily those needed for business.”

The US and Israel have flourishing ecosystems that support scientist innovators, including business angels and venture investors, who are ready to invest early and help build skilled management teams quickly, to take new ideas to market. Scientist inventors may choose to advise the company, become shareholders, or run the company.

Building the ecosystem

By contrast Europe’s ecosystem is less developed. It has far fewer venture investors combing university campuses for the next great idea and ready to build the experienced management teams successful spin-offs need. But in key areas where that support exists, as is the case with Imperial Innovations, the quoted technology transfer arm of Imperial College London and an investor in early-stage companies, the flow of spin-offs and commercialisation of new technologies is strong.

“Is not just about tech transfer and licensing and spin-outs. If you don’t have partnerships and all the ways of interacting [between academia and industry] – you can’t realise the full span of innovation possibilities,” said Tony Hickson, managing director of technology transfer at Imperial Innovations. “Not everything is a patent or spin-out.”

Glover, a molecular biologist who co-founded a successful company based on her own research, agreed. “There is too much emphasis [in Europe] on forcing someone who does frontier research to carry through to find money and do the commercial development. We need to be more creative thinking about how to connect science and business.”

As Glover herself discovered, she was “not the right person” to lead her own spin-off. Like many academics, she felt uncomfortable in a commercial environment where the driving motivation was supposed to be “earning shed-loads of money.” Instead, Glover naively gushed to investors about her fascination for the science: “We didn’t speak the same language,” she said.

Several disciplines, one problem

For researchers in some technology sectors, such as robotics or medical devices, the leap from basic research to thinking about a new breakthrough product is much easier. For others, it’s a matter of bringing several diverse disciplines to bear on the same problem. Often you don’t know where an idea will come from to make a new technology ripe for commercialisation, Eyton said. “Connections are vital.”

The CRANN nanoscience centre at Trinity College Dublin helps researchers translate scientific research to market by having a team of skilled business development and commercial experts to write grant proposals for researchers and explore commercial possibilities. “I have to talk to industry and collaborate, but they will help do the things I don’t know how to do - and don’t like doing. They help you avoid making amateurish mistakes,” said Jonathan Coleman, an ERC Proof-of-Concept grant holder.

Coleman admitted he was initially sceptical of collaborating with industry on research, but CRANN’s approach has allowed him to bridge both worlds. “It reduces the barrier to entry of academics fearful of teaming up with industry,” he said. Coleman’s three-minute pitch to investors at the Science|Business event focused on new nanotech materials for use by the energy sector.

Learning experience

Winners of Proof-of-Concept grants who presented ideas at the forum said the exercise opened their eyes to a new world. “Even if I stay on the science side, it’s been a real learning experience,” said Kylie Alison Vincent, an Oxford University chemist working in the field of sustainable production of chemicals using biocatalysts. “I want to be very involved on the advisory side [of commercializing research] she said.

Iannuzzi too intends to continue in basic research, and in January was appointed professor of experimental physics at VU University Amsterdam. He wears his chief technology officer hat at his 2011 spin-off Optics11 mainly at weekends – by special agreement with the university. One thing he can do best is open doors at the medical centre across the campus to talk to cell biologists and physicians about the potential to improve patient treatment using his new technology.

“We are all in academia because we like to learn new things. Since I started this venture, I’ve learned so much on a completely different field – it’s a different language, a different way of work,” said Iannuzzi. “But you have to be humble enough to admit sometimes others are much better than you when it comes to the business side.” 

As the existing grant holders presented their ideas to the forum, hosted at the ERC, the ERC announced the next batch of 27 Proof-of-Concept award winners. The projects cover a range of topics from novel drug therapies and new biomaterials to greener and cheaper industrial chemicals. The top-up funding for existing ERC grantees is for activities related to securing intellectual property rights, investigating commercial and business opportunities and technical validation.

Horizon 2020, the EU’s seven-year financial framework for research and innovation, will include more financial and policy instruments to support innovation, including public procurement of innovative products and a venture capital passport which allows funds registered in one EU country to raise capital throughout the EU.

“Access to finance, including loans and guarantees is very important. The market is not allocating resources,” said Clara de la Torre, director of research and innovation for DG Research and Innovation at the European Commission.