DIN-ECO Seminars to Support Academic and Non-Academic Staff in Terms of Innovation and Technology Transfer

In the framework of DIN-ECO project, In order to increase awareness on research commercialization, the consortium has developed material adopted best practices in order to design specialized training seminars for academics and non-academics so that they acquire the basic knowledge and skills related to innovation and the exploitation of the research results, the protection of intellectual property, and the establishment of spin-offs. A series of seminars was designed for training, along with mentoring sessions, to be delivered to academics and non-academics.

During the training seminars, the participants will be trained on the following:

Academics

1. Technology transfer: Understanding and establishing framework conditions

• Understanding the main processes, activities and decision points.
• Learn about intellectual property rights, patents and IP policy.
• Explore commercialization strategies.

2. Research commercialization strategies

• Methods for identifying commercialization opportunities.
• Understanding of licensing route to commercialization.
• Understanding the rationale for selection spinoff/startup preferred route to market.
• Contract research.
• Advisory services.

3. Effective communication and negotiation skills

• Develop skills for presenting research to potential industry partners.
• Learn negotiation techniques for licensing agreements.
• Improve interpersonal and networking skills.

Non-academics

1. Understanding academic research and collaboration

• Gain insights into the academic research process.
• Learn how to identify opportunities for technology transfer and collaboration between academia and industry.
• Understand the benefits of collaboration between academia and industry

 2. Intellectual property and licensing

• Explore intellectual property rights and their significance.
• Understand the technology transfer process, including licensing and royalties.
• Learn how to negotiate and draft licensing agreements.

3. Building successful industry-academia partnerships

• Develop strategies for effective collaboration with academic institutions.
• Identify funding opportunities and research partnerships.

The trainers are scientists with great experience in the areas of technology transfer, from the participating partners of the consortium. 

The first set of seminars will take place during 12-21 December, according to the following agenda. All times are presented in CET.

Link for participation

Access Link

Short Bios

• Georgia Lalou is an Architect Engineer from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She holds a Master of Science degree in Urban & Regional Planning from the University of Thessaly. She has participated in several national and European projects regarding urban development, place identity, place branding, and cultural & tourism planning as a research associate of the University of Thessaly and a member of the Laboratory of Tourism Planning, Research and Policy of the Department of Planning and Regional Development, UTh. Since 2021, she has been working as a project & proposal manager in European calls.
• Milena Rajic is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nis. She has published several papers and participated in national and European projects related to innovations in Mechanical Engineering. During the DIN-ECO project, she organized a workshop on design thinking.
• Murat Aktan received his Master’s degree from Otto-von-Guericke University in Germany and his PhD in marketing at Marmara University, Istanbul. Dr. Aktan worked in several Turkish public universities and served as a full-time professor at Woosong University in South Korea between 2018-2019. Throughout his career, Dr.Aktan has worked in multinational corporations (i.e., Novartis AG and Goodyear Tyres) and has given training and consultancy to SMEs. He has several publications in top-tier scientific journals (SSCI) and continuing research with global scholars. His research mainly focuses on consumer behaviour and international and tourism marketing. Dr. Aktan also serves as an active research member in several scientific projects funded by the European Union.
• Manolis Chatzigiannis is a technology transfer consultant and entrepreneurship counsellor in the Technology Transfer Offices of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and Ionian University. He is also a development programs consultant for SMEs. He is a Ph.D. Candidate in Applied Economics. His interests include entrepreneurship education, lean startup methodologies and economic research.
• Laura Toschi teaches Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management and serves as Deputy Director for the Executive Master in Technology and Innovation Management at Bologna Business School. She holds a PhD in Management from the University of Bologna. She has been a visiting scholar at Boston University and Queensland University of Technology and a post-doc at the SPRU. Her main research interests include financing mechanisms for innovation, science commercialization, entrepreneurship, and social impact.
• Federico Munari teaches Technology and Innovation Management. He is the director of the first and second cycle degrees of engineering management at the University of Bologna. He served as the Director of the Ph.D. in Management at the University of Bologna. His research interests include technology commercialization, intellectual property management, and entrepreneurial finance.
• Matteo Vignoli received his Ph.D. from the University of Padua and was a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University (USA) and Ryerson University (Canada). He teaches Management Engineering and is a member of the Design Thinking ME310/SUGAR network and of the CBI initiative @ CERN. Delegate for the University of Bologna Open Innovation Initiatives @Almacube, Academic Director of various BBS Open Programs, Founder and Trustee of the Future Food Institute. Matteo’s focus is “building the future” with Design Thinking Innovation. His work has appeared in Research Policy, Creativity Innovation Management, Computers & Operations Research, Production Planning & Control, and International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management.