Alumni

UPIN - University of Porto Innovation

UPIN – University of Porto Innovation is the Knowledge Transfer Office of University of Porto. Founded in 2004, UPIN is under the supervision of the vice-rector of University of Porto for the research and development (R&D), innovation and IRICUP (Common Resources and Initiatives Institute of University of Porto).

Mission

The mission of UPIN is to develop an integrated approach to the innovation policy of U.Porto, promoting sustainable forms of knowledge and technology transfer, generated from the R&D results of the University, as well as to strengthen the links of U.Porto with other universities, institutions and enterprises. The activities of UPIN help U.Porto to internationalise and to stimulate the creation of new companies and new jobs. U.Porto aims to reinforce its role as a driver of socio-economic development of the northern region and of the whole country.

Strategic Activity Areas

With the goal of strengthening U.Porto innovation chain, UPIN is structured in three main strategic activity areas:

R&D and Innovation funding programmes

The objective of this area is to stimulate and support the participation of U.Porto community in national and international R&D funding schemes, in particular those of the 7^th Framework Programme of the European Commission and of the SNRF – Strategic National Reference Framework. UPIN’s work involves the following actions:

• Collect, simplify and disseminate relevant information of the existing, national and international R&D and innovation funding schemes;
• Strategic search for partners (in particular academic and industrial partners) for the development of research activities in the scope of the funding scheme identified;
• Reinforce the position and lobby capacity of U.Porto within the EC and other relevant R&D funding entities, in other to improve the information channels;
• Support the submission and administrative/financial management of R&D projects.

R&D Results valorisation and entrepreneurship

UPIN actively identifies and valuates the R&D results of U.Porto. It manages the Intellectual Property, implementing effective marketing and licensing strategies. It also develops entrepreneurship training programmes and stimulates the creation of technology based spin–offs at U.Porto. This area is essentially focused on the creation and implementation of a strategy to increase potential “clients” in the U.Porto universe, and in creating communication channels with the industry in order to raise interest in technologies and knowledge contained in U.Porto and, at the same time, to infer the industry’s innovation needs. Several efforts are been developed:

• Fostering of a systematic innovation culture in U.Porto that encourages a working environment favourable to innovation and change in all activities developed in U.Porto, in particular those related to R&D;
• Active identification and valuation of R&D results of U.Porto, visiting all U.Porto R&D units (both with UPIN human resources and external experts in different scientific and technological areas of knowledge);
• Management of the intellectual property (IP) of U.Porto, through GAPI and OTIC@UP, offering services of patent request and other IP protection; technology exploitation and dissemination strategies (an EXAMPLE OF A TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER is presented in the manual) follow up of licensed technologies; distribution of IP royalties conforming to the IP policy of U.Porto; management of the spin-offs IP and support in the negotiation of R&D contracts with external entities;
• Dissemination of U.Porto TECHNOLOGY OFFERS;
• Implementation of effective marketing and licensing strategies of U.Porto R&D results, in line with the existing IP policy;
• Development of entrepreneurship training for students, lecturers and researchers, from all scientific areas;
• Stimulation and support of technology based spin-offs in U.Porto, offering help in business plan structuring, funding search, contacts with venture capital and incubators, etc;
• Support the incorporation of new companies in incubators and technological parks.

Interface Industry-University

The Interface Industry-University area bridges the gap between U.Porto and external organisations, fostering cooperation projects in Research and Technological Development, aiming to facilitate the access of companies to the knowledge network of U.Porto. This area takes place in each phase of an R&D and innovation partnership between an external organization and U.Porto:

• Generation of R&D ideas, through diagnostic, feasibility studies as well as specification of R&D and innovation necessities and ideas of companies and of  U.Porto community;
• Identification of the partners (search of R&D and innovation skills in U.Porto according to the necessities identified by a company and search of companies that may be interested in projects of U.Porto members);
• Project planning (including budgeting, funding, intellectual property…);
• Development of projects and mediation.

 
These three areas interact in a transversal way and applying international best practices, in order to allow the best support to researchers and external entities that have or might have a connection with the University of Porto and their Alumni; this is applicable to organizations that collaborate with the University of Porto in relation to innovation, and others who act individually with the objective of commercializing innovations.

For more informations please visite the UPIN website.