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This report outlines the assessment, innovation potential, and commercialization strategy of the Faculty for Chemistry and Pharmacy at Sofia University. It provides key recommendations for improving research capacity, infrastructure, and collaboration with industry.
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Commercialization Strategy of the Faculty for Chemistry and Pharmacy at Sofia University “St. Kl. Ohridski” September 2015
Outline Part I: Assessment • Challenging Areas • Key Recommendations Part II: Innovation Potential • National comparators • International comparators Part III: Commercialization Strategy • Mission, Vision and Values • Goals • Excellence in Research • Excellence in Technology Transfer • Excellence in Innovation
Human Capital • Time for involvement in scientific research is limited (required teaching load, administrative responsibilities and project management) • Decreasing trend of bachelor students and master students • PhD students – stable flow
Ranking of the Faculties at Sofia University in terms of ratio between senior faculty and Ph.D. students (2015) Source: Sofia University official data (Jan.2015).
Research Capacity • Mission-oriented research is undertaken • Cluster approach in doing research • There is gap in the research capacity between senior faculty (some have high H-index; others have mainly undertake teaching responsibilities) • Focus on Advanced Functional Materials - Materials for clean energy - Materials for environment protection -Materials with pharmaceutical and medical applications -Materials for optics and electronics
Research Infrastructure • Steadily improving over the last few years • Lack of special equipment and constrained supply of materials, compounds or chemicals for the experiments
Research Commercialization in Collaboration with Industry • Academic research is open and driven by curiosity. It shows potential direction of creating new product or service….thus, the industry cannot demonstrate interest as this is the beginning of the path. • Lack of public funding to bridge the “Development gap” • Focus on industry sponsored research
Recommendations • Balance the teaching load • Attract more PhD Students and Post-Docs • Eliminate project management burden of senior faculty • Advance the cluster approach in research activities • Rank top 10 faculty and young scientists and give them publicity
Recommendations • Conduct annual performance evaluation of the faculty • Grant Annual award for best transfer • Organize promotional campaigns for new bachelor students • Improve quality of teaching and research in Pharmacy studies • Launch PhD program in Pharmacy • Facilitate specializations of PhD students abroad
Recommendations • Conduct annual survey of young scientists • Encourage project-based funding • Encourage more public funding for fundamental research • Attract more scientists from the Bulgarian diaspora • Mandate the involvement of scientists from the Bulgarian diaspora in future project-based activities • Continue improving lab infrastructure • Provide dedicated business development and marketing unit
Recommendations • Conduct business demand survey and feasibility study. • Encourage spin-offs by the faculty through a reserve fund • Generate income stream through a FAB lab • Interlink Fab Lab and incubation services
Consider launching of Fab Lab Source: “Innovation Infrastructure Flagship Projects.” World Bank, November 2013.
Methodology • Inventions • Public funding • Attracted private funding • Publications Output-based analysis (Pohlmann, 2010; Cooper, 2007) Single index, based on four indicators - JorgBuhnemann and Steffen Burchhard (2013).
Public Funding for Selected Faculties at Sofia University (in BGN)
Attracted Private Funding for Selected Faculties at Sofia University (in BGN)
Private/Public Funding of Selected Institutes at BAS (in BGN)
Patents A top performing Institute for Informatics and Communication Technologies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences has filed 7 patent applications, while the Institute of Mechanics has 7 patents and 3 patent applications.
Funding for the Department of Chemistry at Torino University, 2010-2012, in million EUR Source: Chemistry UniTO 2010-2012, available at: http://www.chimica.unito.it/unitoWAR/ShowBinary/FSRepo/D101/Allegati/Chemistry@UniTO.pdf
MISSION educate and train highly qualified specialists with strong scientific background and creative thinking, attain a high level of employability of our graduates and excel in mission-oriented research, benefiting from both, fundamental and applied research, and technology transfer with an international reputation for the quality and market relevance of our outputs
VISION the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy at Sofia University, honoring its over century history, will continue to excel in three intertwined pillars of academic achievement: Pillar I. Advanced human capital formation (education); Pillar II. Knowledge generation and dissemination process (research and publishing of research results); and Pillar III. Turn science into products that benefit society (commercialization of research outputs and technology transfer to industry)
VALUES • Maximize the impact of new knowledge resulting from research and scientific discovery; • Protect faculty and student rights by preserving the principle of academic freedom; • Adhere to the highest ethical standards in all dealings and relationships; • Serve as a trusted and creative negotiator of fair, mutually beneficial agreements; • Achieve a high level of service and accountability to the faculty.
GOAL to establish the faculty as a leader in mission-oriented research and technology transfers to industry across the globe, to be renowned for the high-quality of the scientific outputs developed at the faculty and enjoy an international reputation for high commercial applicability of its research outputs and high level of employability of its graduates.
Goal No.1: Excellence in Research Objective: Engage the faculty members in new and emerging research areas across the boundaries of traditional disciplines and different research streams and research clustering; and Use the full research capacity of the faculty and the available research infrastructure to address national and global scientific challenges, deliver research with social impact and build the knowledge capacity and skills of the future research leaders. Approach • Encouraging research clusters, collaboration across research disciplines and research streams; • Shaping and securing strategic partnerships with research funders and industry; • Increasing knowledge exchange and public engagement to attract the brightest young people to study at the faculty; • Maximizing research funding with a new emphasis on large and cross-disciplinary proposals; • Engaging with EU priorities for Horizon 2020, professionalizing our approach to securing EU funding, and supporting our faculty members to be successful consortium leaders; • Generating scholarships and fellowships to support doctoral programs and attract bright young scientists for post-doctoral engagements at the faculty; • Using efficiently the available equipment and sustain efficiency of research costs and sustainable upgrading of the research infrastructure; • Raising the profile of our research and expertise nationally and world-wide through business development and marketing efforts.
Goal No.2 – Excellence in technology transfer Objective:To enhance the income inflow to the faculty and refocus the research to respond to industry demands, specifically the needs of new market entrants, knowledge-based start-ups and small companies that base their products on scientific outputs and solutions developed by the faculty; and increase the availability of the research outputs and technologies developed by the faculty to a broad global marketplace through: 1) Conducting collaborative research with industry; 2) Licensing intellectual property resulting from research (research commercialization); 3) Establishing companies to develop products based on research outputs or technologies developed by faculty members (spin-off companies); 4) Establishing spin-off companies as joint-ventures with industrial or capital partners. Approach • Continue promoting collaborative research with strategic industry partners, by which the industry partner grants access of highly specialized expertise to the faculty researchers, technical personnel, laboratories and facilities which help address specific industry research, verification or product development challenges; • Obtaining IP protection for research outputs and technologies developed by faculty members (that are more advanced towards the product development stage) and granting licenses (under license agreement, rather sale of the technology) to exploit the resulting IP to interested industrial enterprises, based on an assessment of the capabilities of the industrial licensee to implement and further develop the technology in collaboration with the faculty researchers; • Promoting creation of spin-off companies (rather than simply license the IP to an industrial enterprise) to commercialize technologies developed by faculty members (that are in a very advanced stages in the product development process) based on an assessment of the capabilities of the researcher team to lead an emerging company and apply the technology into a viable commercial production process. Or alternatively, • Creating spin-off companies in the form of joint-ventures
Goal No.3 – Excellence in Innovation Objective: To stimulate innovation and seek out novel applications, benefiting the local economy and increasing the international profile of the faculty by identifying the best means of turning ideas of faculty scientists and students into commercial products; and establish an international reputation as a reliable commercialization partner to the industry in the exchange of knowledge and practices generated by the faculty. Approach • Inspiring scientists and students to acquire and use their entrepreneurial and management skills; • Fostering professional socialization, collaborative brainstorming and exchange of ideas and staff with industry; • Improving the supply of research funding to promote research, the creation of spin-off companies by faculty researchers and the absorption of technology developed by the faculty by knowledge-based companies and new start-ups through both national and EU funds public funds; • Developing long-term, sustainable relationships with local micro and small enterprises through focused business development and proactive marketing to support joint innovation and commercialization activities; • Working with other universities and research institutes to simplify engagement with industry (while maintaining the leadership in commercialization) and to influence the public policy debate on innovation, formulating the innovation agenda and implementation of respective policies in practice.
