Europe’s research breakthroughs face a technology transfer bottleneck - Justfine International University Pathway

Share by Linkedin
Share by Reddit
Share by Facebook
Share by Bluesky
Share by X
Share by Mastodon
Share by Xing
Share by email
Loading…
Print

APU sim – Automatic Preparation Unit
<img src="https://ji<a href="https://jiuniversity.com/a-bad-omen-syria-bans-women-from-university-courses/” title=”A bad omen? Syria bans women from university courses”>university.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/img-aox-0001-pic-3_baiHSzFXT.jpg” alt=”APU sim – Automatic Preparation Unit”>
Unprecedented Resolution: New Single Particle Optical Counter for Nanoparticles and Microparticles

Your Entire C/N/S/X Lab in One Device

Europe is a powerhouse of world-class research, but its ability to turn that excellence into technologies and companies is increasingly important for competitiveness. technology transfer offices (TTOs) help researchers identify and protect inventions and connect them with companies, investors and entrepreneurs. A new EPO study, developed with ASTP – Europe’s association for technology-transfer professionals – and Fraunhofer ISI, provides the first Europe-wide benchmark by combining patent evidence with survey data from more than 800 European TTOs.

“Technology transfer is a competitiveness issue. Europe’s universities and public research organisations are at the forefront of scientific discovery, but breakthroughs must move from the lab to the market if they are to create jobs, growth and strategic autonomy,” said EPO President António Campinos. “This means strengthening technology transfer, improving access to finance and building a more integrated single market for innovation. The study presented today identifies six priorities to help Europe turn research excellence into market success.”

European TTOs vary widely in size, maturity and activity

Of the 809 TTOs analysed, 90.5% were small or mid-scale, while 9.5% were large-scale offices. Large-scale TTOs have six times more staff, support institutions with 23 times more research expenditure and nearly seven times the research workforce and receive almost 16 times more invention disclosures than small or mid-scale offices

Start-up boom thriving

In 2024, 37 new spin-offs were founded at ETH Zurich, a large proportion of them in the fields of AI and biotechnology

Read news

Once an invention has entered the TTO pipeline, small and mid-scale offices can help it progress towards a patent, licence or venture at rates comparable to larger offices. The difference is one of capacity: larger offices can process substantially more activity per staff member because they benefit from specialist expertise, established processes and stronger commercial networks

Connecting research, expertise and investors across Europe

The study suggests that local TTOs can strengthen their capacity by drawing on wider expertise, finance and market networks. Most offices are too small to maintain every capability in-house. The data support a model in which close contact with researchers remains local, while specialist market knowledge, technology intelligence, training and investor access are shared through regional and European support structures.

The data also highlight the growing pan-European dimension of technology transfer. Research-based technologies are emerging from a wider range of countries, while the companies, investors and entrepreneurs best placed to develop them may be located elsewhere in Europe. Greater visibility, brokerage and cross-border connections can help promising inventions find the right partners and address the still-limited scale of cross-border technology transfer.

Europe has caught up on university ownership, but a gap remains

Patents with university involvement account for around 9% of European patents, close to the US level. European universities also own a much larger share of their inventions than twenty years ago. However, 40.7% of European patents directly owned by European universities lapse within ten years, compared with 26.3% of those owned by US universities, pointing to challenges in sustaining and commercialising promising technologies. As competition intensifies, notably with China’s renewed focus on university technology commercialisation in its 15th Five-Year Plan, Europe needs stronger technology transfer support to help research reach the market.

Public research is increasingly important in strategic technologies

European patent applications involving a university, public research organisation or research hospital have more than doubled in the past two decades, from around 3 200 in 2006 to almost 8 000 in 2025. Germany, France and the United Kingdom remain the leading countries, but their combined share fell from nearly 64% to about 55%. Rather than a decline among leading countries, this indicates a broader European research base, with particularly strong growth in the Netherlands and Spain and increased activity across many others.

Research institutions were applicants on about 34% of European-origin biotechnology applications, 29% in quantum technologies and 26% in pharmaceuticals in 2025. Their ability to move inventions towards the market is therefore strategically important. The leading European public research institutions are CNRS (France), Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (Germany), CEA (France), Inserm (France) and imec (Belgium).

New tools to explore Europe’s public research landscape

Alongside the report, the EPO is launching a Data Desk dashboard on European public research, enabling users to explore patenting activity by country, institution and technology. The EPO’s Deep Tech Finder (DTF) has also been expanded with additional data on European public research organisations, further supporting connections between research institutions, industry and investors.

https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/1190155/europes-research-breakthroughs-face-a-technology-transfer-bottleneck.html

Automated and Done in 5 Minutes – That’s How Solvent Extraction Works These Days

Advanced carbon & sulfur analysis of metals and inorganic materials

NO_x and NH₃ measurement: Efficient solutions for precise and user-friendly gas analysis

Other news from the department science

Archimedes’ screw made from a single molecule

Global underground CO₂ storage hits record 43.6 million tonnes

London Register expands reach

Hanbat National University study shows cation disorder could improve lithium-rich cathodes

Experiments show a disordered structure enhances lithium transport while preventing performance degradation

Making the sustainable production of hydrogen peroxide more efficient

A research team has found an optimized way to produce hydrogen peroxide more sustainably

2026 KlarText Prize for Science Communication: Klaus Tschira Foundation Honors Seven Researchers

Articles such as “Good News for Those Who Hate Brussels Sprouts,” “The Stamp-Sized Lab,” and “Faster Drug Development Through Math” won over the jury

A molecular strategy for longer-lasting, dendrite-free zinc batteries

New method makes acrylic glass recycling economically

Industry could adopt the method immediately

New biobatteries are inspired by your small intestine

Binghamton University team shows how wastewater can power bacteria fuel cells

Electrolysis for Green Hydrogen: Research and Patents Are on the Rise, but Market Ramp-Up Remains Challenging

Germany and the EU Significantly Increase Research Funding for Electrolysis Technologies

University of Limerick researchers turn wood industry byproduct into high-performance battery material

New research could help power next generation of greener batteries

New ‘hunter-killer’ chemistry captures and destroys forever chemicals

New catalytic membrane targets the strongest bond in organic chemistry

Using AI to Recall Forgotten Chemistry Knowledge

New data on substances and reactions from before 1800 help us better understand the development of chemistry

Converting CO₂ Directly into Fuels and Chemicals

TU Berlin Launches Two Research Projects on Direct Electrochemical CO₂ Conversion

Overcoming the scaling challenge for climate solutions

Launch of Climate Solutions Hub within the ETH Domain

Robust enzymes

It’s not the size that counts: chemical proximity protects metabolic enzymes from heat stress

Fine particles from aircraft exhaust become more harmful over time

Bright crystals: Moving chalcogenide materials closer to application

First experimental measurement of the luminous efficiency of chalcogenide perovskites: the materials emit light much more efficiently than previously thought