Knowledge transfer: putting knowledge to work

Europe is productive when it comes to the generation of knowledge. The challenge is, however to improve the use and exploitation of publicly funded R&D. Although there are a  number of programmes strengthening pathways by which the knowledge generation capacities of public higher education and research can work together with enterprises to bring innovations to market, the level of lasting strategic cooperation between the two sectors remains too low.

Universities need to develop policies for the professional management of intellectual property. Doing so will help them meet several aspects of their mission, for example to generate socio-economic benefits for society and to attract the best students and researchers.

To support universities and to provide a more coherent framework for knowledge transfer activities the Commission has adopted a Recommendation on the management of intellectual property in knowledge transfer activities and a Code of Practice for universities and otherpublic research organisations.

Also, the "Responsible Partnering" initiative provides a guide to better practices for collaborative research and knowledge transfer between universities and industry.

For more info
http://ec.europa.eu/invest-in-research/pdf/ip_recommendation_en.pdf
http://www.responsible-partnering.org