Taking European expertise in computing to market
Turning research results into viable technologies, products and services is central to the EU's objective of encouraging sustainable growth and jobs across Europe. In the computer systems sector alone, there is huge potential for taking new ideas to market. But how can the academic world join the commercial world? One answer is through partnering academics with business expertise. TETRACOM (Technology Transfer in Computing Systems) is a coordination action funded by the Commission under FP7, and its objective is to coordinate and support technology transfers from academia to industry. Technology Transfer describes the process of transferring knowledge and technology - usually developed in universities and other institutions - to the market place in the form of new products, processes, applications or services. Achieving this leap to market is not easy. A great deal of outstanding research simply does not find its way into commercial products and services, partly because researchers do not prioritise the commercialisation of their results. Another obstacle is cost - and this is where TETRACOM comes in. TETRACOM is focused on technology transfer in the domain of computing systems throughout Europe. This will be achieved by incentivising researchers to try an actual technology transfer. Through a novel and lightweight funding instrument - the Technology Transfer Project (TTP) - TETRACOM will train researchers up on how to set up and execute a successful technology transfer, and also offer private consulting services for researchers involved in a technology transfer. A TETRACOM TTP will typically last between three and 12 months, with the total cost anything between EUR 10 000 and EUR 200 000. TETRACOM will fund up to 50% of this, with the expected average grant size being EUR 25 000. This funding will enable dedicated, well-defined, and short term academia-industry collaborations that bring concrete R&D results into industrial use. Funding is reserved only for academic beneficiaries, and only companies with business activities and/or physical sites in EU or Associated States are eligible as technology transfer partners. However, the actual collaborating company department does not necessarily have to be located itself in these countries. Launched in September 2013, it is expected that TETRACOM will pave the way for more large scale technology transfer initiatives across Europe. The project aims to fund and support around 50 TTPs over the next three years, and provide researchers with the tools to commercialise their results. Three calls for TTP proposals will be issued over the next three years, with the first call for TTP proposals appearing in early 2014. The budget for this particular call will be EUR 300 000. Total EU funding for the project is nearly EUR 2 million.For more information, please visit: TETRACOM http://www.tetracom.eu/ Project factsheet
Countries
Germany