The University of Malta has been awarded funding through the European Social Fund (ESF) to carry out a project entitled ‘Creating a Knowledge Transfer Framework and Technology Entrepreneurship Training Programme’.
The University has recently set up Knowledge Transfer and Intellectual Property Rights Offices on campus
This project, which falls under the Cohesion Policy Programme 2007 – 2013, has a total budget of €1,331,530 and will be managed by the University’s Corporate Research and Knowledge Transfer Office together with the Entrepreneurship Unit within the Institute for Sustainable Development. The Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST), Malta Enterprise and the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry are partners on the project.
Through the project the University of Malta aims to establish an intellectual property (IP) and knowledge transfer (KT) framework and introduce an intensive training programme in science and technology entrepreneurship.
The University has recently set up Knowledge Transfer and Intellectual Property Rights Offices on campus which will benefit from the project through consolidation of their IP and KT activities and processes. Training will be provided to university support staff and staff from Malta Enterprise and the MCST to enable them to provide the necessary support services related to the technical, legal, financial and commercial aspects of IP, KT and business incubation activities.
One of the roles of the IPR and KT offices will be to raise awareness and build basic skills in this area through training activities for academics and students. The IPR and KT offices will also be responsible for the monitoring and publicising of IP protection and KT activities and related achievements, as well as disseminating information regarding university IP rights and expertise.
Activities that will be carried out through the project will include two series of seminars, one for university staff and students and another for the broader ecosystem including business representatives, entrepreneurs, potential investors and other external participants involved in the area. The second seminar series, which will be organised with the collaboration of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise, and Industry, will involve training and networking activities aimed to increase business to academia linkages and encourage cooperation between the various stakeholders.
This project will also enable the University of Malta to organise an intensive training programme in technology entrepreneurship. This will consist of a series of eight intensive training modules targeted towards promising entrepreneurs, with each module being repeated annually for two years. A distance learning format for the modules will also be developed to allow online delivery of the content.