The objectives of the “Scaling up the commercialization of R&D” project were: 1. to develop a standardized, international curriculum that promotes knowledge in the areas of copyright, intellectual property protection, innovation in research, and the commercialization of research results; 2. to implement this curriculum as an e-learning course, available in four European languages (EN, PL, RO, GR), designed for self-paced learning; 3. building a so-called critical mass of competent individuals in local innovation ecosystems by training over 240 representatives of target groups, which was intended to translate into a tangible strengthening of the potential for technology transfer and the commercialization of innovations.
The project was launched in response to the low efficiency of commercializing research results in Central and Eastern European countries such as Poland, Greece, and Romania. This was evidenced by these countries’ low rankings in the ERI, as well as their low levels of corporate spending on R&D and the small share of research commercialization in GDP. The consortium’s motivation for applying for the project was the need to increase support for the commercialization of research results and to align them with market needs in order to more effectively bring innovations to market in the form of products and services. The project addressed several key needs: • Raising the level of knowledge and competence of students, researchers, and innovation teams in the field of research commercialization; • Strengthening cooperation between science and business • Developing a culture of innovation by increasing researchers’ motivation to implement research results; • Increasing the accessibility and effectiveness of education through a digital solution enabling self-directed learning; • Providing organizational support to project partners who needed an effective training tool for participants in the commercialization process.