Research News
Biosensor ARSOlux®. Bild: André Künzelmann/UFZ
Contact:
Dr Jörn Krupa
Technology Transfer Officer
Helmholtz Office Berlin
Tel.: +49 30 206329-72
Technology Transfer 2011/07-08
First Helmholtz Validation Fund Project Starts
The first four projects of the Helmholtz Validation Fund, the Helmholtz Association's new instrument for funding technology transfer, were selected in May 2011. Over the course of the next two years, these projects will further develop application oriented research results in the fields of medical robotics, cancer research and water analysis with the aim of successfully exploitation.
- The validation project at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) will use the funds to optimise a medical robotics system with regards to technical parameters and aspects pertaining to patent law. Together with future users at the hospitals, they will validate the system for appropriate applications in the field of minimally invasive visceral surgery.
- Another validation project is the market launch of the ARSOlux® process developed at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, which determines ground water contamination with arsenic. The aim is to optimise the production process of the cost-efficient and easy-to-use arsenic detector and to enable its market launch. The focus is on accessing the market in Bangladesh, which is particularly affected by arsenic poisoning, yet where a market launch is impeded by financial and institutional barriers.
- At the German Cancer Research Centre the Validation Fund supports the pre-clinical development of novel substances with a low molecular weigth, that are optimised as active agents for tumour stem cell intervention.
- Finally, the Validation Fund is to support the development and exploitation of a new substance class of therapeutic agents at the Helmholtz-Zentrum München - German Research Centre for Environmental Health. These agents can be used in particular to treat aggressive lymphomas and for suppressing the immune system.
On the basis of project financing based on milestones, the four projects receive funding totalling a maximum amount of 3.15 million Euro. Until 2015, the new instrument of the Helmholtz Validation Fund commands a total of 26 million Euro from out of the Initiative and Networking Fund. Together with the centres' own funds, this results in more than 50 million Euro for validation funding. The support from the Helmholtz Validation Fund is to help to render application oriented research results from Helmholtz Centres interesting to industry and finance partners and is to enable cooperations, licensing and spin-offs. The new Validation Fund thus closes a financing gap between research and market.
The two-step selection procedure includes experienced evaluators and the external experts from the decision-making committee. The next session of the committee will take place in Munich on 13 December 2011. Preliminary applications can be continuously submitted, yet ought to be handed in by the beginning of August 2011 in order to be considered in the coming round.
More information:
www.helmholtz.de/validierungsfonds
www.helmholtz.de/ausschreibung-validierungsfonds
Five More Spin-off Projects Supported by Helmholtz Enterprise
Once more, promising Helmholtz Centre spin-off projects were granted funding to an amount of 100,000 Euro each from out of the Helmholtz Association's Initiative and Networking Fund. Five founding teams presented themselves during the evaluator session on 30 June 2011 and convinced the external assessors with their spin-off ideas.
- With the AeroDesignWorks GmbH the spin-off team from the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) plan to transfer the know how from the high technology fields aircraft engine and power plant gas turbine to the mass market of aerators and ventilators. In particular, the modern designs reduce the cost of energy without increasing the production cost.
- Another spin-off project receiving funding is called REneWaSol and derives from the Organisation Unit Solar Research at the DLR. The firm intends to produce and distribute water purification facilities on the basis of the SOWARLA technology. The process uses the photonic energy of sunlight to transform harmful substances into mineral nutrients. This technology minimises energy costs and drastically reduces the use of chemicals.
- One of the world-wide leading ion beam centres, the Helmholtz Centre Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) increasingly receives industry requests for taking over production orders. Since there are no other external providers on the market to satisfy the desired scope of work, the spin-off ALION focuses on providing ion implantation services. Ion implantations serve in the targeted influencing of material characteristics on surfaces to increase the performance capability of power semiconductors.
- The aim of onemicronlaser, another HZDR spin-off, is to develop and sell high performance laser systems, in particular ultra short pulse lasers (USP lasers). An innovative, diode-pumped solid-state disk laser will be launched on the market for customers from science and industry alike, that can efficiently create ultra short pulses and amplify them up to very high pulse energies. At present, classical disk lasers achieve only medium-range pulse energies.
- The SiMoNa spin-off from out of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology will provide adapted simulation solutions in the form of services and licences to customers in the fields of chemistry and organic electronics. The core element is the modelling of complex material systems on a molecular level. By imaging the material on a molecular level, SiMoNa can decisively contribute towards shortening and optimising the innovation cycle of material to the marketable product.
With these new projects, the number of spin-offs funded by Helmholtz Enterprise since 2005 rises to 63; more than half of these by now are established firms. The funding supports the spin-off projects during the critical transitional phase to give the founders the freedom necessary to work on the business plan, find competent partners to augment the founding team and to guarantee the timely transfer of know how by new personnel in the various departments.
The next Helmholtz Enterprise evaluation session will take place in November 2011. Applications from the Helmholtz Centres can be submitted until 15 October 2011.
More information:
www.helmholtz.de/enterprise-foerderprogramm
New Helmholtz Web Pages Provide Information On Knowledge and Technology Transfer
The transfer of knowledge and technology is of increasing significance. One success factor for more and more interaction between science and the industry, for the fast conversion of inventions into innovations and for the passing on of research knowledge to society lies in transparency and communication. On its new technology transfer web pages, the Helmholtz Association provides information regarding contact persons in the centres, funding instruments, current numbers and successful transfer examples.
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