Research News
The environmentally friendly cement is to be produced in this pilot plant. Photo: Celitement GmbH
Contact
Dr. Jörn Krupa
Stabsstelle Technologietransfer
Helmholtz-Geschäftsstelle Berlin
+49 30 206329-72
joern.krupa(at)helmholtz.de
http://www.helmholtz.de/technologietransfer
More information:
Technology Transfer 2011/11
Knowledge and Technology Transfer within the Helmholtz Association – the Current Balance
Many people have been active in transferring knowledge and technology within the Helmholtz Association also in this past year. Be it via publications and lectures, via articles in the media or in the context of political consulting – the transfer of knowledge into society has been a successful practice of Helmholtz scientists for a long time. This is augmented by all activities regarding the transfer of technology to translate research results into industrial applications. A special highlight in the year 2010 are the 13 new enterprises, which were established with support from the transfer offices at the Helmholtz centres and, to a large extent, also owing to the funding from the "Helmholtz Enterprise" programme provided for by the Initiative and Networking Fund.
Company Spin-offs
Including these 13 new spin-off enterprises, a total of 58 spin-off companies emerged from Helmholtz centres between 2005 and 2010. The technology-based business start-ups constitute a particularly valuable form of knowledge and technology transfer, because in addition to translating research results into industrial applications they also create new jobs. On the basis of licence and utilisation agreements, the spin-off companies use the know how, patents and in part also the special research infrastructure of the Helmholtz centres. To some extent, the Helmholtz centres become shareholders of the companies, which can result in advantages for both parties: Offsetting of licence and utilisation fees as well as a gain in reputation on the spin-off side, involvement in the entrepreneurial development on part of the research centre.
The Celitement GmbH - Example of a Successful Spin-off
A good example for a successful cooperation between company founders, Helmholtz centre and private industry is constituted by the Celitement GmbH, which is a spin-off company established in 2009 from out of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). In this case, the founders, the KIT and the industrial partner Schwenk Zement KG are shareholders in the company. Recently, another step on the way to the market launch of the environmentally friendly cement Celitement® was completed: On 11 October 2011, the Celitement GmbH's new pilot plant was inaugurated on the Campus North of the KIT. In this facility, 100 kilogramme of the new cement can be produced per day. Its production reduces energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by up to 50%.
Cooperative Ventures, Patents, Licensing
Alongside spin-offs, cooperation ventures as well as patenting and licensing constitute important transfer channels for the transfer into industrial applications. This cooperation with partners from the industry is characterised in particular by contract research and joint research projects with companies, which are increasingly designed as long-term cooperation projects in the context of strategic partnerships and joint research laboratories. 2,800 of these projects were realised in 2010, resulting in revenue of 160 million Euro from the industry. This is added to by a three-digit number of contracts each year allowing companies to make use of the special infrastructure at the Helmholtz centres. Regarding the exploitation of technologies via the registration and licensing of industrial property rights, some key data from 2010 remain constant in comparison with the previous years. This applies in particular to the number of new patent applications and granted patents, which has been in the range of around 400 for a long time, as well as to the number of active licences and options, which over the years has increased from approximately 1,000 to about 1,100. A considerable increase in comparison to the previous year was registered regarding the revenue from these licence and options contracts, which now amounts to 16 million Euro. The entire industrial property rights portfolio of more than 12,500 proprietary rights includes a quarter of granted licences.
"Shared Services" Kick-off Event
To further increase the successful balance, the Helmholtz Association finances also the model project "Shared Services" in addition to the two funding instruments Helmholtz Validation Fund and Helmholtz Enterprise. The official kick-off event for this new project took place in September at the Berlin office. By way of "Shared Services" – yet another element within the Helmholtz Association's technology transfer strategy – the smaller technology transfer units are to profit from the expertise of larger transfer offices. In practice, the funding allows the Research Centre Jülich and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology to make available one central contact person each, who over the course of the next three years will provide support regarding questions of evaluating inventions / patent strategy (Research Centre Jülich) or, respectively, spin-off consulting / shareholder management (KIT) and who can also establish contacts to the expert networks at larger centres. Thus the expert knowledge regarding internal processes and instruments is passed on and a contribution towards strengthening the technology transfer capacities at the smaller centres is made. Yet also the scientists at the centres themselves can tangibly profit from the extended consulting services ranging from announcement of an invention to establishing a spin-off company.
