27 May 2024
Bridging the gap
Teagasc reflects on significant impacts from the decade-long partnership between its technology transfer office and those of University College Cork and Munster Technological University forged via the Bridge Network consortium.
Siobhán Jordan (second left, front row) and Miriam Walsh (second right, front row) with Teagasc colleagues at the 2022 START Fund Award (Photo: Teagasc)
Teagasc’s appointment of its first Intellectual Property Officer in 2006 coincided with the launch of the Government’s Strategy for Science Technology and Innovation 2006-2013. This, in turn, led to investment in a new programme, Technology Transfer Strengthening Initiative (TTSI), which provided additional resources within Irish universities to strengthen Intellectual Property and Commercialisation functions.
The subsequent Innovation 2020 strategy prioritised the development of a more coherent joined-up innovation ecosystem across all Research-Performing Organisations (RPOs). TTSI phase 2 funding focused on establishing consortia of Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs), with more experienced lead TTOs facilitating the development of capacity and capability within smaller RPOs. The existing partnership with UCC – particularly through APC Microbiome Ireland – and the development of Teagasc’s first technology transfer strategy led to the formation of an exciting partnership along with Cork IT to form the Bridge Network TTO consortium. With an annual research income exceeding €150 million in 2013, this collaboration was Ireland’s largest technology transfer consortium.
The Bridge Network TTO consortium successfully secured ten years of funding via TTSI phases 2 and 3. Throughout this period, the consortium led by UCC evolved to include Kerry Institute of Technology in 2017, in line with its planned merger with Cork Institute of Technology to form Munster Technological University in January 2021. With the rollout of the Knowledge Transfer Boost programme in January 2024 to support university-led TTOs, the Bridge Network consortium formally came to a close. However, its impact on Teagasc will be long-lived.
Making a difference
In addition to TTO operations budget and staffing through TTSI, key supports were provided through Knowledge Transfer Ireland (KTI), an organisation established to increase engagement and technology transfer between RPOs and industry. Perhaps the greatest impact, however, was the mutual benefits of each partner – UCC, Teagasc and MTU – through shared learnings, with each partner having complementary expertise to benefit the consortium as a whole.
Since 2013, the completion of an annual Knowledge Transfer survey by all Irish RPOs, commissioned by KTI, has allowed Teagasc’s performance in technology transfer to be benchmarked against its Irish peers, while providing the opportunity to track progress from year to year.
The period of 2013 to 2023 saw a significant increase in innovative activity and IP commercialisation, reflects Siobhán Jordan, Head of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation at Teagasc. “The support from TTSI funding, KTI benchmarking and senior management buy-in and commitment has enabled an increase in industry engagement and funding along with an uplift in the TTO staff resourcing. Year on year, Teagasc has performed very strongly in capturing inventions, leading business engagements, and commercialising its IP, generally exceeding annual targets set by KTI.”
Enabling entrepreneurship
Miriam Walsh, Head of Intellectual Property at Teagasc explains: “The Bridge Network consortium has been hugely important for Teagasc to leverage support for entrepreneurship programmes, enabling researchers to gain insights and experience in company formation. Benefits included access to the UCC SPRINT Accelerator Programme, and adopting knowledge from their IP policies to develop a spin-out approval process within Teagasc’s IP policy in 2019.”
Shivania Pathania (right) at the 2022 UCC SPRINT Awards (Photo: UCC)
Irish Knowledge Transfer Assocation members attend a conference at Oak Park (Photo: Teagasc)
In addition, learnings from UCC collaboration were helpful in rolling out the Teagasc START Fund in 2021 to support early-stage commercialisation opportunities.
Nurturing entrepreneurship has resulted in a number of real success stories, including:
- Teagasc and UCC’s first joint spinout: Seqbiome, a microbiome analysis company
- Since establishment of the START Fund, seven projects have been selected through external review, which should lead to increased IP commercialisation and spinout opportunities.
- Two Teagasc researchers won UCC SPRINT Awards celebrating innovative technologies; Shivani Pathania in 2022 for Clean Green Packaging, and Maria Hayes in 2021 for PAW technology.
Productive collaborations
Although the funding to support the Bridge Network consortium has formally concluded, the relationships established between the partners over the past ten years has led to a renewed commitment to collaboration both regionally and nationally. Stemming from TTSI support and KTI’s key role in facilitating networking among TTO staff, the Irish Knowledge Transfer Association was established in 2023, explains Miriam.
“From this, communities of practice in key areas of knowledge transfer have been set up, with the aim of sharing experiences and learnings among all TTO staff. Teagasc has been very involved in these communities of practice; in 2023, we hosted a successful networking event focused on spinout creation in Teagasc Oak Park, with over 40 participants. Participating in the Irish Knowledge Transfer Association has supported the continued professional development of staff whilst enhancing Teagasc’s reputation for impactful industry engagement.”
All of the Bridge Network partners have benefited from the collaboration and cooperation over the past ten years. Sally Cudmore, Director of Innovation, UCC noted that “this partnership has been instrumental in fostering cutting-edge technology transfer and commercialisation expertise within our respective TTOs. We’re excited for UCC and Teagasc’s journey of collaboration and innovation to continue”.
Teagasc staff with industry partners celebrating their 2022 KTI Impact Award (Photo: Knowledge Transfer Ireland)
Josette O’Mullane, Innovation and Enterprise Manager, MTU agreed: “MTU’s participation in this Consortium has cemented excellent relationships with Teagasc and UCC TTOs. Continued collaboration will help unlock the full potential of our research to drive regional growth and innovation.”
Siobhán Jordan concludes: “Partnering with UCC and MTU to form the Bridge Consortium delivered significant benefits to Teagasc and our TTO. Through our shared interests in environmental and economic sustainability across the agri-food sector, we look forward to continued, innovative collaboration and knowledge transfer.”
National recognition
Between 2016 and 2022, KTI annual national Impact Awards have recognised successful knowledge transfer carried out in Irish RPOs. The awards, selected by international judging panels, celebrated impactful business engagement, licensing, and spinout successes. During this time, the Bridge Network consortium partners have won seven awards.
Successes for Teagasc-led teams include:
- Winner of Licence 2 Impact Award 2017 (Ornua)
- Shortlisted finalist of Collaborative Research Impact award 2018 (Dairy Concepts Irl)
- Winner of Industry engagement award 2022 (multiple companies – chlorate testing)
In addition, a number of Teagasc impact case studies have been selected and widely promoted in the Annual Knowledge Transfer publications, including longstanding relationships with:
- Irish Potato Marketing (2018)
- Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) (2020)
- Immcell Ltd (2022)
Such recognition has been key to highlighting significant impacts from Teagasc research at national and international level, alongside demonstrating the key role of the TTO in supporting and enabling such impact.
Contributors
Miriam Walsh
Head of Intellectual Property, Engage@Teagasc.
miriam.walsh@teagasc.ie
Siobhán Jordan
Head of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation, Engage@Teagasc.
Further reading
Knowledge Transfer Ireland announce winners Impact Awards