NovaUCD Director elected chair of Council of AURIL, the largest knowledge transfer association in Europe

AURIL is the largest knowledge transfer association in Europe with more than 1600 members from UK and Ireland universities, NHS trusts and public sector research establishments. In recent years AURIL has been very influential in advising Government and other policy makers and opinion leaders in the UK on issues relating to technology transfer and innovation.

AURIL has been the main driver of a proposal to establish an Institute of Knowledge Transfer, which will formally launch in early 2007, to develop standards for the profession, not only within the universities and public research organisations, but also in industry and other organisations in the UK and Ireland.

AURIL and other National Knowledge Transfer associations have recently signed a strategic partnership agreement with ProTon Europe, a pan-European network of knowledge transfer professionals. The aim of this agreement is to provide a voice for the technology transfer profession across Europe and to develop policies and good practice through the network of technology transfer offices in universities and Public Research Organisations.

According to Dr Pat Frain, “These developments could not have come at a more critical time for Ireland. In recent months the Government in its Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation agreed for the first time to provide significant funding for the development of technology transfer offices within the universities and institutes of technology.” He added, “ International experience, particularly in the US and UK, has shown that the successful commercialisation of university research can only be achieved with the support of strong technology transfer offices within the institutions.” He concluded, “The setting of high standards for the profession in Ireland will be essential in attracting experienced technology transfer professionals to work in Irish universities and to encourage the best graduates to choose technology transfer as a career.”

ENDS 24 October 2006

For further information contact: Micéal Whelan, NovaUCD, tel: (01) 716 3712, e-mail: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie, Mary O’Brien/Ronnie Simpson, Simpson FT PR, tel: (01) 260 5300 or 086 833 0809 or email: mary@simpsonftpr.ie or ronnie@simpsonftpr.ie.

Editors Notes

Dr Pat Frain is Director of NovaUCD, the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre at UCD. He was responsible for the planning and development of this unique Centre, which was established with the support of a public/private partnership involving UCD, Enterprise Ireland and six private sector organisations. He had been Director of the University Industry Programme at UCD since 1988.

He was previously Vice-Chair of AURIL and is a member of the Board of the Institute for Knowledge Transfer. He is Chairman of the UNICA Working group on Innovation Centres and Science Parks and was previously the Chairman of the ProTon Europe Working Group on Intellectual Property. He is a member of the International Advisory Board for Industry and Higher Education. He is also involved in a range of other national and international initiatives aimed at promoting innovation and technology transfer.

Before joining UCD, Dr Frain was employed by the National Board for Science and Technology in the development of manpower and innovation policy and programmes. He has also been a director of a number of small firms. He is a physicist by qualification and an alumnus of the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Co-operation.

NovaUCD is University College Dublin’s €11 million Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre. NovaUCD is responsible for the commercialisation of intellectual property arising from UCD research and for the development of co-operation with industry and business. NovaUCD as a purpose-built centre also nurtures new technology and knowledge-intensive enterprises. NovaUCD has over 40 incubation units, including bio-incubation units, and provides innovators and entrepreneurs with the necessary support and knowledge to take their ideas from proof of principle to commercial success. Twenty-five knowledge-intensive companies are currently located in NovaUCD. NovaUCD has been funded through a unique public-private partnership that includes AIB Bank, Arthur Cox, Deloitte, Enterprise Ireland, Ericsson, Goodbody Stockbrokers, UCD and Xilinx.