The European Commission has launched the new call From Lab to Market: Strengthening the Role of Technology Transfer Offices in Bringing Knowledge to the Market. The initiative aims to redefine intellectual property management strategies in line with the recommendations of the Draghi Report on European competitiveness.
The primary objective is to transform universities and research organizations into true engines of innovation capable of fueling startups and enterprises. Funded projects will be required to generate tangible impacts across several levels:
- Commercialization of research;
- "Startup-friendly" policies, by introducing fairer and more attractive patent transfer and licensing policies within research centers and universities;
- Incentives for researchers, by developing benefit-sharing models to ensure an equitable distribution of royalties to students and researchers;
- Reduction of transaction costs, to lower expenses and bundle patents into commercial portfolios that are more attractive to investors;
- Deep tech development, to stimulate the creation of high-tech ecosystems centered around pan-European research infrastructures.
The newly developed licensing tools and researcher incentive models must be directly tested through the implementation of at least three pilot cases. The outcomes of these trials will lay the groundwork for a standardized European reference model for managing copyrights, royalties, and equity stakes for academic inventors.
Furthermore, the call includes provisions for cascade funding managed by the winning consortia. This funding will support pilot projects in three to five different technological areas linked to large-scale research infrastructures, validating the industrial feasibility of the intercepted deep tech innovations.
The selected beneficiaries will be required to execute a series of operational on-the-ground activities. Specifically, consortia will map and share European best practices to create a common toolkit containing ready-to-use contract templates, flexible clauses, and negotiation strategies.
Eligible applicants include innovation agencies as well as national or regional authorities. Throughout the project, beneficiaries will be required to consult market stakeholders — particularly SMEs and startups — and are encouraged to leverage existing synergistic programs, such as the EIT Higher Education Initiative.
he application deadline is set for September 22, 2026.