htto.org

 

The project “Establishment of Technology Transfer Office (TTO) at University ‘Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarov’ - Burgas” is implemented with the assistance of the Ministry of Economy and Energy of Bulgaria, and with the financial support of the PHARE Program of the European Community, under the grant scheme “Establishment of Technology Transfer Offices at Bulgarian Public Research Organizations”.

The vision of TTO-Burgas is to create a bridge between science and business, to connect those who invent technologies with those who need them by providing support for the commercialization of innovations and research work in Bulgarian research organizations. Furthermore, TTO contributes to the development of new or significantly improved products/services and the establishment of innovative businesses by supporting the market penetration of innovations, thus improving competitiveness in Bulgaria.

The main goals of TTO include the improvement of the competitiveness of enterprises located in the Southeast planning region of Bulgaria by increasing the innovative and technological potential at regional level. The establishment of TTO serves as preparation for the development of regional high-tech firms, spin-off companies and SMEs developed on the basis of technology. The completion of the TTO will contribute to strengthening the bonds among universities, research organizations, the private sector, state institutions and the High-Tech Business Incubator, which will provide innovative and technological enterprises with well-coordinated strategic support in their development.

The target groups of this specific project are innovative enterprises that have the potential to commercialize the research results of scientific teams of University “Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarov”- Burgas, of chemical laboratories and business institutions located in the Southeast planning region of Bulgaria. These research results have to be in the areas of: Chemical technologies, Technologies related to environmental protection; Purification of water; Mathematical Chemistry; Biotechnologies; New fuels and petroleum products; Energy efficiency; New materials (ceramics and polymers). The final beneficiaries of the project are the enterprises in the sectors of technology and regional industry in the Southeast planning region of Bulgaria, as well as the science sector at regional level.

The project aims at contributing to the Regional innovative strategy of the Southeast planning region of Bulgaria.

Currently, the following activities have been completed with regard to the establishment of the TTO: hiring and training of the staff; promotion of the office, initially located on the premises of University “Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarov” - Burgas and moved later on to an independent site; PR and marketing campaign; creation of a database to process the initially submitted innovative ideas; creation of a website to facilitate the access to information and to provide more efficient service to potential partners. Another important aspect related to the establishment of the TTO is the identification of those research results and outputs that have significant commercial value. This activity consists of searching for new opportunities for technology transfer through the collection and analysis of data on innovative and scientific products with commercial potential. On these grounds, a database is currently being filled in with data from various sources; preliminary analysis of the data and selection of ideas to be further assessed are being carried out.

Furthermore, in-depth analysis will be conducted on the needs of firms operating at regional level with regard to innovative solutions. The measures necessary to be taken in order to increase the awareness of society about the significance of innovations will be identified and implemented at the level of regional government. The project will provide firms with a customer-oriented framework for the support of innovations (including support from agencies and higher education institutions) so that the best opportunities for research and development are available to the firms. This will further improve the research capacity of universities and regional institutions in the field of innovative research.

One of the main practical results that are expected from the project is the completion of 10 feasibility analyses of innovative ideas. These ideas will be presented mainly by University “Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarov” - Burgas. During the final stage of the project, the development of prototypes of three ideas will be funded.