The NEXT project explores how experimental methods can be used to improve the success of science commercialisation initiatives, addressing a gap in innovation policy. While the scientific method is widely applied to advance knowledge, it is rarely used to test mechanisms for accelerating research commercialisation. This gap has left innovators and policymakers without a clear understanding of the most effective ways to support and enhance the transition of scientific discoveries into societal and economic benefits.
This socioeconomic study seeks to address this by employing experimental approaches to evaluate and refine science commercialisation initiatives, with a focus on enhancing the impact of public investments such as those made through the ATTRACT program.
NEXT emphasizes the potential of experimental methods to increase the success rate of commercialisation efforts. By collaborating with ATTRACT and policy partners, it identifies, and tests interventions aimed at accelerating science commercialisation. The work focuses on three areas: engaging researchers and businesses in technology transfer activities, developing the capabilities needed for researchers and businesses to thrive in collaborations, providing the – material and immaterial resources to support commercialisation, and creating sustainable matches. These areas form the foundation for experiments designed to uncover actionable insights and improve the effectiveness of commercialisation initiatives.
The research team has developed the “University-Industry Impact Accelerator”, a program designed to foster partnerships between research institutions and innovation agencies. It provides structured training, support programs, and tailored one-on-one assistance to strengthen collaboration.
In addition, the team has published a handbook titled “Experimenting in University-Industry Collaboration”, which explores key issues in these partnerships and proposes experimental strategies to address them. The handbook describes these issues and offers policymakers, program implementers and researchers, inspiration, guidance, and practical tools for conducting rigorous evaluations.
“It has been an exciting, challenging and creative two-year journey to structure the insights from literature, surveys, interviews and programmes into a framework capturing the policy challenges, to develop and refine the experimental ideas, and to design a format that makes them accessible, functional and – of course – beautiful!”,
explained Sara García Arteagoitia, Senior Researcher at the Innovation Growth Lab and coordinator of NEXT.
Through these efforts, NEXT has demonstrated the feasibility and value of using experimental methods in the field of science commercialisation. The findings and tools offer a framework that can be scaled and replicated in future initiatives, providing a pathway for more evidence-based and impactful innovation policies.
The project is coordinated by the Innovation Growth Lab, a global policy lab dedicated to fostering productive, inclusive, and sustainable economies, and it is carried out in collaboration with the Barcelona School of Economics, Esade Business School, and Nesta.
Here you can watch a video of the NEXT project:
For additional information about the project, visit here.
The NEXT project explores how experimental methods can be used to improve the success of science commercialisation initiatives, addressing a gap in innovation policy. While the scientific method is widely applied to advance knowledge, it is rarely used to test mechanisms for accelerating research commercialisation. This gap has left innovators and policymakers without a clear […]
