Dr 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. With over 160 knowledge transfer organisations, including NovaUCD, as members, ProTon Europe reaches out to nearly 600 universities and public research organisations across Europe.
Dr Pat Frain
Dr Frain was previously Chair of the association in 2008.
Dr Frain was elected chair during ProTon Europe’s 8th annual conference which took place last week in Lisbon, Portugal. This conference provided an opportunity for industry, public research organisations and government representatives to identify key actions necessary to achieve effective collaboration and knowledge transfer and thereby maximise the impact of publicly funded research on the European economy.
Speaking after the conference, Dr Frain said, “Countries around Europe, including Ireland, are working hard to encourage innovation and knowledge transfer as a stimulus for economic growth. In order to ensure that this stimulus can generate sustainable benefits it is essential to build long-term strategic partnerships between universities and business. 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.”
ProTon Europe was established in 2003 by the European Commission. Its primary aim is to promote European innovation by increasing the effectiveness of knowledge transfer and collaboration between public research organisations and industry. A major objective of the association is the development of the expertise and skills of knowledge transfer professionals.
Dr Frain added, “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.”
Dr Frain concluded, “The continuing failure to reach agreement on a single European patent system 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.”
ENDS
3 February 2011
For further information contact Micéal Whelan, NovaUCD, t: +353 1 716 3712, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie.
Editors Notes
Knowledge Transfer is the transfer of know-how, skills and knowledge from one party to another leading to innovative, profitable or economic improvements for government, organisations and individuals in the private and public sectors and in the wider community.
ProTon Europe is the pan-European association of knowledge transfer organisations linked to universities and public research organisations. The association was created in 2003 by the European Commission and is self-supporting since 2007. With over 160 members of knowledge transfer organisations ProTon Europe reaches out to almost 600 universities and public research organisations across Europe.
Dr Pat Frain is Director of NovaUCD, the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre at University College Dublin. He was responsible for the planning and development of NovaUCD, which opened in 2003, with the support of a public/private partnership involving UCD, Enterprise Ireland and six private sector organisations. He had been Director of the University Industry Programme (UIP) at UCD since 1988. He is a former chair of AURIL (UK and Ireland) and is a member of the Board and a Fellow of the Institute for Knowledge Transfer. He is a Director of IE Domain Registry Ltd and he has also been a Director of a number of other small firms. He is a physicist by qualification and an alumnus of the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Co-operation.
NovaUCD, the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre, is the hub of knowledge transfer activities at University College Dublin. NovaUCD is responsible for the commercialisation of intellectual property arising from UCD research and for the development of co-operation with industry and business. NovaUCD as a purpose-built centre also nurtures new technology and knowledge-intensive enterprises. NovaUCD has been funded through a unique public-private partnership that includes AIB Bank, Arthur Cox, Deloitte, Enterprise Ireland, Ericsson, Goodbody Stockbrokers, UCD and Xilinx.