BTO has received funding from the FORNY2020 program at the Norwegian Research Council to carry out the pilot project.
– The pilot projects purpose is to identify the TTOs roles and focus areas in the application process for academic customers as well as industrial customers in the Bergen area, says Malgorzata Barczyk, responsible for the project in BTO.
Last week Barczyk and Randi E. Taxt organized a nationwide seminar in Bergen with the intention to raise awareness about the possibilities in the Horizon 2020 programme and to highlight the role of the Technology Transfer Offices. More than thirty people participated and learned from the experience of experts from the TTO industry and advisers from the Norwegian Research Council.
–Knowledge about this programme is of great importance as TTOs aim to provide advice to academics and industry so that they can choose the most suitable program, call or type of grant.
–TTOs can also gain financing for their own activity since they can have their own work packages included in the proposals, says Barczyk who was one of five speakers.
Horizon 2020 offers nearly 700 billion NOK of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020). It promises more breakthroughs, discoveries and world-firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market.
–It is also nice to have a EU-proposal granted as this means prestige and international recognition for your institution, says Barczyk.
How was the seminar welcomed by the participants?
–From feedbacks during the day it seemed that people were happy with the information and found it useful. We hope that we shed some light over the most important issues and that the participants feel that they can apply for Horizon 2020 funding, Barczyk concludes.
Feel free to contact Malgorzata Barczyk if you have questions about the pilot project, the seminar or Horizon 2020 in general.