University Technology Transfer Centre celebrates 25 years of activity
27 10 2023
The University Technology Transfer Centre (UOTT) is celebrating its anniversary on the occasion of the international conference “Commercialisation and Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century” being organised from 25-27 October 2023 at the UW.
The conference emphasised the role played by academic technology transfer centres in the functioning of universities and in the economy. Above all, these units have a key role to play in building relations between scientists and the university environment. As the Rector of the University of Warsaw, Prof. Alojzy Z. Nowak, emphasised, the results of research work should not only be published, but also – if possible – patented and put into practice. Importantly, centres such as UOTT are university-wide units, which means that they work for all faculties, including the humanities and social sciences. So, they need to operate in a universal way on the one hand, but on the other hand adapt to the specificities of different scientific disciplines and the complexity of the needs of entrepreneurs in many industries.
The role of technology transfer centres in the functioning of universities, as well as challenges and opportunities for technology transfer in Poland were also the subject of presentations by, among others, Przemysław Dubel, Ph.D., Director of UOTT; Adam Struzik, Marshall of the Mazowieckie Voivodship; and Paweł Poszytek, Ph.D., Director General of the Foundation for the Development of the Education System, the main partner of the conference.
During the conference, panels were held with the participation of scientists running university spin-off companies, people managing technology transfer centres at other universities, UW authorities and the authorities of the Polish Patent Office. Participants discussed what can be done to make cooperation between science and business more effective.
The celebration of 25 years of the UW UOTT provided an opportunity to change the name of the unit. On 26 October 2023, the former UOTT UW changed its name to the UW Centre for Technology and Knowledge Transfer (CTTW UW). This is in line with the strategy for the unit to make a key contribution to the University’s Third Mission.
The conference was co-financed by Action II.4.1 “Organizing worldwide high-level congresses” of the IDUB Programme.