Another milestone in international research cooperation! UHK, the University of Granada and the Technical University of Košice have signed a Partnership Agreement for the Technology Transfer Together project
Author: Matyáš Strnad, UHK PR specialist
The University of Hradec Králové builds on long-term good relations with foreign universities in Spain and Slovakia and expands cooperation in the field of knowledge and technology transfer. The participating institutions work together to develop the issue of transferring technological and industrial innovations in the business environment, with special focus on patent law and copyright protection of research outputs. UHK will be able to learn from these partners who have been successfully developing technology transfer for a long time. The amount of the subsidy of the provided grant project, which started by an online meeting in the autumn of 2020, is 169 thousand euros.
Strategic partnerships in the higher education sector are projects aimed at creating innovative educational outcomes, practices, and ideas, and where the emphasis is on the promotion and dissemination of results. At least three organizations from three program countries must join such a partnership and the duration of the project is between two and three years. ’Projects can involve not only higher education institutions owning ECHE, but also companies, research institutes, libraries, hospitals, and other educational institutions,’ says Leona Stašová, UHK Vice-Rector for International Affairs.
’The groundbreaking project focuses on the development of the entire spectrum of the UHK academic community, the University of Granada and the Technical University in Košice. It will contribute to the expansion of knowledge and skills necessary for the successful transfer of technological progress into the market in the form of spin-off companies for teachers, who then transfer the acquired knowledge to students, as well as students and university staff who administer activities related to this activity,’ describes Ondřej Krejcar, UHK Vice-Rector for Science and Creative Activities. ’It goes without saying that the emphasis is on the regional specifics of the institutions and the sharing of effective practice. The course, as one of the outputs of the project, is planned to be included in the study programs during the years 2021 and 2022,’ says Petra Marešová, UHK Vice-Rector for Student Affairs and Cooperation with Practice.
In addition, there will be a unique educational tool in the form of a summer school, again accessible to the target group of three participating universities. The summer school with the topic of Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property at UHK 2021 and 2022 will welcome both Czech and foreign experts in this field. The methodological contribution of the summer school lies primarily in the improvement of institutional conditions for further education of students and academics in the field of knowledge and technology transfer enriched by experience from the international and multicultural environment.
’The impact of this new cooperation will be reflected in the long term, in a broader area beyond the development of the skills of the involved academic staff. By streamlining the transfer of technological progress produced at universities to the commercial sphere, the market as such is developing,’ highlights Kamil Kuča, UHK Rector. Therefore, it is important to equip research and technical staff with the necessary know-how. The first phase of the project also includes a preparatory workshop held at UHK and focused on key points in the process of technology transfer, intellectual property, and legal aspects of the whole issue in individual countries.
Approximately 80,000 people study or work at the University of Granada. With its 82 spin-off companies, it is a very important research institution in the field of applied science in Spain. Furthermore, its structure, containing besides technical and natural sciences also humanities and social sciences, is quite similar to UHK. Thanks to its long tradition in the region, the Technical University in Košice can share best practice of its functional and effective Department of Innovation and Technology Transfer and one of the strongest real spin-off companies within Slovak universities.
