Dr Pat Frain, Director of NovaUCD, the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre at University College Dublin, has been elected the 2011 Chair of ProTon Europe.
Headquartered in Brussels, ProTon Europe is the pan-European association of knowledge transfer organisations linked to universities and public research organisations. With over 160 organisations, including NovaUCD, as members, ProTon Europe reaches out to nearly 600 universities and public research organisations across Europe.
This is the second time Dr Frain has held this position, having previously been elected in 2008.
Speaking about his appointment, Dr Frain said: “Countries around Europe, including Ireland, are working hard to encourage innovation and knowledge transfer as a stimulus for economic growth. In order to ensure that this stimulus can generate sustainable benefits it is essential to build long-term strategic partnerships between universities and business. Such partnerships must be mutually beneficial with an appropriate balance between industrial objectives and academic priorities and should be characterised by a high degree of overlap between academic research interests and the technology pull from industry.”
ProTon Europe was established in 2003 by the European Commission. Its primary aim is to promote European innovation by increasing the effectiveness of knowledge transfer and collaboration between public research organisations and industry. A major objective of the association is the development of the expertise and skills of knowledge transfer professionals.
Dr Frain added: “Entrepreneurs, including researcher/academic entrepreneurs, need increased access to capital to develop and test their inventions. Greater continuity in the financing chain from idea to business is essential so that promising innovative projects are not lost due to the lack of capital.
“The continuing failure to reach agreement on a single European patent system to replace the costly and complex system currently in place is a significant obstacle to effective knowledge transfer from public research institutions to the market.”
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