IXA is partner in science for societal impact

Valorisation is the process of creating value from knowledge by making knowledge suitable and/or available for economic and/or societal use and translating that knowledge into competitive products, services, processes and entrepreneurial activity.

A KTO is part of a university’s infrastructure that aims to transfer knowledge outside academia for the benefit of society. This transfer of knowledge, research results or intellectual property should result in societal and/or economic impact. KTOs are found at universities active in all domains while the variation TTO (Technology Transfer Office) is often found at technical universities.

A KTO gives shape and meaning to the universities third mission: valorizing research. At the same time a KTO acts as a facilitator. With a broad range of facilities, services and expertise IXA offers researchers practical support to valorize research. Also, the KTO fulfils an important communication role: universities and profitable companies have different values and objectives if it comes to research. The KTO experts understand both and can communicate effectively with researchers and commercial people alike. Further a KTO’s efforts and involvement ensures that all parties involved – researcher, university and a third party – receives a fair return if a company generates profits with the knowledge. And all that in a way that as many people as possible will benefit from their research results.