The Third Mission of universities involves activities aimed at transferring the results of academic endeavours into tangible benefits for local and regional environments. It serves as a crucial avenue for universities to showcase the value of knowledge in human development, going beyond the traditional roles of education and research. The economic value generated through Third Mission activities is a testament to its significance in fostering innovation and engagement. 

Bridging a gap

The Third Mission is deeply intertwined with the territory it serves. It focuses on transferring technologies from laboratories to the public, managing intellectual property, facilitating technology transfers to companies, and fostering the creation of spin-offs. Additionally, public engagement and connection with social ecosystems play a vital role in the success of the Third Mission, emphasising its role in bridging the gap between academia and society. 

According to a study conducted by PROMISE (1) among 122 European Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), at least 90% of them included Third Mission in their main strategic documents and policies. They also divided the policies related to it into subcategories: Entrepreneurship and Technology transfer, Job market readiness and relevance of student education, Societal relevance, regional responsibility, and community engagement, Industry, Government and NGO collaboration and knowledge transfer, and Third Mission overall. The following graphic highlights how HEIs approach Third Mission, with a focus on establishing aims, supporting Third Mission work, or a combination of both. 

As it shows, “Societal relevance, regional responsibility and community engagement” is a policy area with 76% of institutions having policies and providing aims, support, or support and incentives. It suggests a shared commitment among these institutions to actively contribute to the well-being and development of their surrounding communities and regions, aligning with broader societal needs and responsibilities, which is core to the spirit behind the Third Mission itself. 

META’s action in Padua

Through a three-step competence building action, META Group empowered the Third Mission Office of the university of Padua, further solidifying its position as a leader in impact mobilisation. The workshop, attended by representatives from various departments, underscored the necessity of a unified approach to the Third Mission. It provided a platform for sharing insights and strategies to maximise the impact of universities in their broader communities. “Working across Europe we had the opportunity to meet with many people working on third mission and we learned a lot about challenges and solutions. When we are asked to help, we share this experience, which is not so common”, highlights Andrea Di Anselmo, President of META Group. 

We help them understand how to make things happen and provide a logic framework but also operational hints and tools.

The Third mission, a booster for innovation

In the heterogeneous landscape of academia, there is no standard recipe for success; however, two fundamental principles apply universally. Firstly, collaborative teamwork is essential, and if universities fail to cultivate a multidisciplinary approach, success becomes elusive. Secondly, the emphasis should be on need-oriented activities rather than being solution-driven.  

In this context, it is crucial to recognise that technology is not the primary driver; instead, the focus should be on addressing the problems at hand. As universities navigate this evolving terrain, the Third Mission emerges as a guiding light of innovation, collaboration, and success. European universities, in particular, are embracing this mission, positioning themselves to shape the future and drive societal progress by effectively leveraging knowledge. 

Read more about the Third Mission: 

• Compagnucci, F, Spigarelli, The Third Mission of the university: A systematic literature review on potentials and constraints, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 161, December 2020. Available here.
• Elena Pérez, S., Arregui Pabollet, E. and Marinelli, E., The role of universities in regional development through Smart Specialisation Strategies: Evidence from two Spanish regions (Catalonia and Navarre), 2017, ISSN 0213-3865, (92), p. 43-67, JRC108598. Available here.  

(1) PROMISE is the Platform for the Support of Responsibility and Openness and their Monitoring in Innovation and Science Ecosystems. It was developed by the EU funded research project SUPER MoRRI.

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The “ESIL – Next Gen of Angels” programme, funded by the European Union through the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, EISMEA, is being delivered by a consortium of three of the most experienced partners in the Angel and early-stage finance ecosystem: META Group, Business Angels Europe and Bpifrance. Furthermore, the Consortium is supported by a range of leading players across the European finance and Innovation ecosystem including, InvestEurope, EURADA, INSME, EBN, EuroCrowd, National Promotional Banks and Innovation agencies, VC Funds and National Angel Federations and Networks.

A successful European Innovation Council depends on a high-quality and permanent deal flow, and Business Angels play a crucial role in coaching research projects, startups and scaleups emerging from Horizon Europe.

This important new programme is based on the recognition that the key challenge for the future growth of the European Angel market is that there is not a level playing field for entrepreneurial finance across Europe and there are several regions of Europe, where Angel investment remains unexploited.  Actions will target the whole Europe, with a focus on six key EU member states where the angel market is currently lagging, but where there is huge potential to build and mobilise the next generation of angel investors and create the conditions to build dynamic and connected business angel communities.

A dynamic European angel community

A key focus of “ESIL – Next Gen of Angels” will be to ensure that these new angel communities reflect the diverse demographics of the European Union, addressing the need for a much more gender diverse angel community across Europe. To achieve this, the ESIL partnership has formed a major new Women Angel Leaders Task Force, drawing on women angels from across Europe including the emerging economies, also supported by women in leading roles in the project management and legal and financial support and who will be leading the efforts to recruit and mobilise many more women angel investors across Europe whilst increasing the level of investment in women founders.

The Consortium Partners will bring their expertise alongside local players working on the ground to identify and establish new Angel syndicates, providing mentorship, support, and skills to enable individuals to take leadership. Education and knowledge transfer will be at the core of the work of the “ESIL – Next Gen of Angels” programme and this will include  both delivery of  courses for new angels on the ground in the target countries, but also the development of a new bespoke Angel Investment Open E-learning course (MOOC) covering all aspects of the Angel investment process available online, across the whole of the European Angel community both to support new angels and support the professionalism of existing angels.

Ensuring greater connectivity across the European Angel market will be a key approach in the work being done and to ensure long term sustainability of the work of the “ESIL – Next Gen of Angels” programme. This will include a strong focus on creating partnerships between existing and new emerging angel communities and especially working with BAE’s Club of leading Angel groups around Europe.

There will be specific attention to building transnational investment opportunities creating a strong platform to share deals and co-invest, supported by Bpifrance, whilst, at the same time, drawing on META Group’s and BA Networks experience to explore the potential of developing Co-investment Angel funds. This work will also be supported by a new European Legal Task Force led by Monard Law, to develop a set of bespoke legal documents and templates to facilitate cross border Angel investments and address differing legal and regulatory barriers.

Finally, the “ESIL – Next Gen of Angels” programme will benefit from a strong communication framework to continue to build extensive awareness, promote exchange of good practice, highlight role models and successes and provide strong market intelligence throughout the whole two-year delivery and beyond.

“The importance of this programme for a Europe-wide boost of the angel market is undeniable. All elements in the programme are mutually reinforcing, ranging from the focused individual approach  on six less developed angel economies,  providing top-level guidance to them by experts from more mature angel markets, over the roll-out of the lessons learned and an E-learning platform throughout Europe, to the legal working group with its detailed legal documents set for cross-border investments. All these elements together form an all-in approach that we at BAE and our partners are excited to be delivering  under this new ESIL- Next Gen of Angels programme. Furthermore, through our BAE Club, we can roll out the red carpet for these emerging new angels and transnational investment opportunities  to offer them direct access to our high-quality angel communities across Europe. This programme builds on the knowledge that has been built up within BAE under both the ESIL programme and the specific gender-focused programs that we have been running across Europe”. – Reginald Vossen, President, Business Angels Europe.

Business Angels Europe (BAE)

As the European Confederation of angel investing, Business Angels Europe represents national angel associations and leading angel clubs. BAE represents both the most developed national angel markets and many of the growing angel markets across Europe. BAE also brings together the most active Angel Networks through its BAE Club to provide a core community for exchange of investor knowledge, experience and connections.

With the principle of subsidiarity as its core leading principle, BAE aims to add value and reinforce the role of the National Associations and Networks, acting as the voice of angel markets to ensure a supportive and efficient policy and operational framework for the growth of angel investment in Europe and supporting the exchange of experience and knowledge.

BAE has extensive experience in the development of angel investing and the entrepreneurial eco-system in countries where the market is yet underdeveloped. BAE also dedicates substantial resources to support startups to scaleups growth across Europe by connecting them to relevant angel groups and networks and enabling them to interface with internationally minded groups and networks.

www.businessangelseurope.com

Contact: reginald.vossen@businessangelseurope.com

META Group (META)

META operates internationally to shape Research and Innovation (R&I) projects from idea to start-up and scale-up stages. It has been selected by several EC Directorates General to coordinate and implement large service contracts for the deployment of capacity building and support actions on R&I, Entrepreneurship and Finance. Today META is leader in bringing research results funded by the European Commission’s Framework Programmes to market. In Horizon Results Booster, HRB, META supported over 8500 organisations and completed 570 capacity building services. In InvestHorizon 2.0 META assisted international scale-ups, with over 500 companies accompanied to private investors.

Since 1993, META is active in the field of Innovation Service from Strategy to Capacity Building and Investments. META provides DG Regio and DG Grow with technical assistance for Smart Specialisation Strategies and Interregional Investment partnerships S3P. META also designs and implementing public and private equity financial instruments, which have so far resulted in more than €100 million investments with positive returns in several EU countries.

www.meta-group.com

Contact: l.valeriani@meta-group.com

EuroQuity by Bpifrance

EuroQuity, operated by Bpifrance, serves as a matchmaking platform fostering connections between entrepreneurs and their business partners, and in particular investors. Established in 2008, the platform’s expansion has been fueled by collaborations with European Commission projects and major global organizations, cementing its status as a leading matchmaking hub bridging the European and African ecosystems.

Bpifrance, France’s national public investment bank, is the one-stop shop for entrepreneurs. Actively engaged at the European level and deeply integrated into the European financing industry, Bpifrance plays a pivotal role in driving the nation’s economic growth, fostering innovation, and nurturing essential entrepreneurship connections.

EuroQuity, a key player of ESIL1, boasts a robust track record of fostering strong relationships with national and international Business Angel networks. Notably, it has initiated ‘The Big Angels Day,’ an event showcasing the influential role of business angels across Europe and Africa while facilitating matchmaking between entrepreneurs and business angels. Additionally, EuroQuity channels collaborative efforts to develop crucial tools that facilitate knowledge transfer and drive cross-border initiatives.

www.euroquity.com www.bpifrance.com

Contact: jana.drzkova@ext.bpifrance.fr

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The IMPAC3T-IP project  will develop a modern ‘tool-box’ to support licensing with a focus on 3 main scenarios: 

• Classical+ – licensing beyond the traditional industrial rights for inventions (patents and trademarks), into more modern bundles of rights needed to license digital technologies, including IoT, AI and ML and mobile technologies e.g. data sharing and standards essential patents (SEP) as well a ‘long tail’ licensing (high volume low price). 
• Crisis – supporting rapid voluntary licensing under different legislative regimes and standard and non-standard conditions e.g. through voluntary royalty free licensing in times of medical crises, natural disasters and geopolitical conflict. 
• Co-creation – supporting licensing of intellectual assets that have been created through complex partnerships with multiple owners and diverse licensing objectives. Increasingly encountered when responding to societal challenges. 

IMPAC3T-IP Academy 

Take-up and use of the IP-tool box will be supported by the IMPACT3T IP Academy. This will offer a fully subsidised training courses for individuals across Europe wanting to become a certified IMPAC3T-IP ‘user’ and ‘trainer’, including as part of a recognised Knowledge Transfer Professional qualification. 

Special Interest Groups (SIG) 

Development of the IP tool-box will take place with the support of three Special Interest Groups (SIGs). These will advise on the three scenarios as well as emerging technology trends in licensing e.g. increasing use of AI and Block-chain technologies. SIGs will have an early opportunity to test the tools and to join the subsidised training program through IMPAC3T-IP Academy. 

About IMPAC3T-IP  

IMPAC3T-IP is an EU-funded project that addresses scenario-based licensing for stakeholders in the IP value chain. The project is developing a toolbox and an associated training program to support licensing in three key situations:  

• Classical+ – licensing beyond the traditional industrial rights for inventions, into more modern bundles of rights needed to license digital technologies.  
• Crisis – supporting rapid voluntary licensing under different legislative regimes and standard and non-standard conditions.  
• Co-creation – created for complex partnerships with multiple owners and diverse licensing objectives. 

The IMPAC3T-IP project is a 3-year action funded by the European Commission and starting in December 2023. META Group is in charge of the management and coordination of the project as well as of the communication, dissemination and sustainability work package.

IMPAC3T-IP Partners: 

META Srl (IT), Universidad de Alicante (ES), University College Dublin (IE), Demola (FI), Areopa (BE), Atrineo (DE), ASTP (NL). 

Associate Partner: e-Lucid (UK) 

Keywords: 

• IPR management 
• Scenario based licensing 
• IP tool-box 
• Crisis management 
• Intellectual Property digitalisation 

Contact

Lisa Cowey
Technical Coordinator, T3I 

l.cowey@t3i.co.uk  

Clémence Contant
Communication Manager, META Group 

c.contant@meta-group.com  

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• The Lean Canvas – 18th October. One of the main failure for early-stage startups is that there is no market needs towards the products/services they are developing. Thus to avoid to fall into this statistic, it is important early-stage startups explore the Lean Canvas as a strategic planning tool. 
• The Unique Value Proposition Canvas – 6th November. The first goal in adopting the Lean Canvas is to reach the Problem-solution fit which is basically when a startup is developing a solution for a specific need(s) for the customers. In order to reach this goal, startups need to use the UVP as a strategic tool. 
• Approaching risk capital investors – 21st November. High-growth early stage startups need money to scale and boost their activities. It is important that the founders understand which are the kind of investors in the market and which is the best way to approach them. 
• How to master your pitch – 5th December. The first approach to investors is the key to increase the odds to get the funds. Thus, preparing a great pitch is crucial to achieve this first step.

A problem oriented approach

This Business Partnership Action consists of four 90-minute online workshops, each including both theoretical and practical aspects. It also offers the participants the opportunity to connect with fellow entrepreneurs, exchange best practices, ideas and perspectives, and leverage lessons learned from their journey. 

The workshops will be guided by META Group’s senior expert and coach, Lorenzo Valeriani. He has an educational background in Technology management from Unicusano University and in quantitative finance from the University of Rome Tor Vergata. Lorenzo has been part of META Group since 2016. Over the years, he focused in the financial domain, particularly within META Ventures, where he worked as analyst on supportingportfolio startups across Italy. Lorenzo continues to work closely with early-stage startups, aiming to provide them with the expertise and tools necessary to secure crucial financial backing to boost their fast growth. He combines these activities with his involvement in several EU projects. 

Regarding the value that the participants will find in these workshops, Lorenzo said: “We’re trying to orient them to tackle a concrete problem. Giving to the founders, in a seed phase, a problem oriented approach will help them to have a higher chance of success. In our experience, having the right strategic mindset plays a crucial role in increasing the survival rate of early-stage startups. This is exactly what we are looking to transmit during the first two workshops. By provinding the participants with this toolkit, startups will follow a strategy which can stick better to the target customers.  

A workshop to help you navigate the ecosystem of investment 

When asked about the appointments on 21st November and 5th December, Lorenzo explained that “the last two are more focused on how to present the project to the investors and to navigate in the ecosystem of investment. Fast growing startups need money to rapidly scale and thus it is important for them to immediately look around and understand how the risk capital industry works” 

This initiative is open to start-up founders and representatives who are looking to enhance their understanding of business partnerships actions. If it resonates with you and want to improve your chances of finding investors for your company, click here and register now.  

The Region Alliance for Interconnected Startup Ecosystems – RAISE – project aims at developing a new and sustainable integrated support framework to foster startup growth and scale-up across Europe. It targets companies that have already achieved first results, possibly supported by regional programmes and are now aiming to grow. In this framework, the project partners are required to implement several pilot actions, among which there are training, mentoring, and networking sessions which will help startup promoters to get in contact with the appropriate mentors and trainers who can help them gain access to their target markets. 

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The European Union is considered a scientific powerhouse producing about 20% of the world’s best science despite having just 6% of the world’s population. However, according to the Science, Research and Innovation Performance of the EU 2022, while the EU shows strengths in technological areas related to advanced manufacturing and advanced materials, its technological sovereignty is at risk in many critical fields, including AI, big data, cloud computing, cybersecurity, robotics and micro-electronics.

The debate around the necessity of better translating scientific output into concrete societal impact is not new. One of the main measures taken by the European Commission in this regard was introducing stricter requirements for publicly funded research and innovation (R&I) projects.

Another step was providing various support schemes focusing on research uptake. Initiatives such as Horizon Results Booster offer free guidance on how to maximise the exploitation potential of research results, disseminate effectively, and go to market.

A more recent step signalling the pursuit of research impact comes from the research community itself. It involves defining a new professional role in the R&I process: the impact manager.

Just like a project manager, innovation manager, or research manager, the impact manager works collaboratively and can implement changes to improve an organisation’s operational efficiency or lead the research into strategic opportunities. But the distinction comes from bearing the responsibility of measuring, strengthening, and communicating the research impact.

Training opportunities for future impact managers

“Considerable financial resources have been allocated towards the generation of new knowledge and research. However, looking back, it appears that the outcomes of these investments in terms of societal and environmental benefits and progress towards economic development are lacking, leaving much to be desired.” – says Andrea Di Anselmo, president of META Group.

He recently participated as an expert in the first training program for impact managers ever organized in Europe. The course is an initiative of CODAU, the Convention of General Directors of University Administrations. It will be presented as a best practice during the Knowledge Valorisation Week organized by the European Commission.

Dissemination and Exploitation of Research Results

To counter the risk of unexploited research efforts funded by public money, the more recent EU framework programmes pay higher attention to dissemination and exploitation activities. This new approach involves several opportunities as well as commitments for all actors involved in the R&I process be it academia or industry.

For someone seeking a career in a socially meaningful and innovative field, the position of impact manager may be a great career option. Impact managers can work both in the public and private sector in any sector involving innovative processes.

In the educational sector, they are experts within universities that offer guidance to researchers, professors, PhD students, and staff on how to make use of their knowledge effectively. Essentially, they are accountable for ensuring the fulfilment of the Third Mission. This means that research investments should ultimately yield benefits for society, the economy, or the environment.

Impact managers: What They Do?

But what do impact managers do? How can they make sure that research results are being used? On practical terms, impact managers elaborate the research exploitation and dissemination sections in fund proposals. Later they lead the implementation of these activities. They are also involved in identifying funding options and leading the development of new programs for their department.

“Attention over impact of research is growing and the role of Impact Managers is emerging in universities across Europe. Working either in research support or knowledge transfer offices, they have transversal skills over the whole research project lifecycle, offering a highly specialized support to increase the chances of research projects to generate scientific, economic and societal impacts. By acting as facilitators towards an impact-oriented culture in their institution, they also ensure the transfer of knowledge from academia to industry”, says Valentina Romano, Research Manager and Head of Division at the Polytechnic University of Torino.

Together with Alessandra Baccigotti from University of Bologna, Valentina is the organizer of the course “Promoting the impact of EU research projects: towards the definition of a new profile of Impact Manager” mentioned above.

The idea behind the training was that impact managers need to acquire certain skills to excel in their role. An important one is intellectual property rights (IPR) management. They should also be skilled in proposal writing, as they will cover some important parts of the proposals. On the other hand, impact managers are expected to possess strong project management skills. This is because they must ensure that projects are executed efficiently and effectively. Additionally, grant management is also a critical skill that impact managers should have. Sometimes they are responsible for managing the financial aspects of a project and ensuring that grant requirements are met.

Impact managers are a link

“The approach in research has changed in the last few years. The emphasis is now problem-led rather than curiosity driven,” says Andrea di Anselmo. He believes that impact manager can have an important role in helping research teams focus on generating results that solve societal problems.

As one of the main roles of impact managers is to be in contact with a wide range of stakeholders from governmental employees and investors to professional associations, they have to come up with a broad vision of the needs of all these actors and are in the best position to help the researchers meet these gaps.

Impact managers are expected to identify and engage stakeholders who may be interested or benefit from the research findings. This is one of the reasons that people with backgrounds in startup accelerators or business management are a good fit for this role. Another useful background would be humanities, as it can provide a comprehensive vision to the research process and its final link to the society.

Challenges and opportunities

Although there is a general consent on the need of emphasising impact in research and innovation, impact managers may encounter cultural barriers to achieve their goals, like the cultural mindset that still prevails in some academic organisations. “Impact managers may encounter a significant obstacle in persuading their peers that it is their responsibility to ensure the practical application of their research, and that even scientific knowledge should have some form of additional advantage. Regrettably, many researchers do not see it as their duty to consider the utilization of their research, and may solely focus on producing academic papers, which may not even serve a practical purpose”, considers Andrea Di Anselmo.

While this role is still being defined, impact managers are a growing profile in universities. On Glassdor, a popular job search platform, an impact manager role typically requires eight years of experience. The salary level can vary greatly based on the sector.

• If you want to improve your skills and become an impact manager, get in contact with us to learn more about our training services.
• To keep up to date to the latest news on research and innovation, fundings, tools and opportunities, do not miss our monthly newsletter.

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Izmir city in Turkey is one of the administrative centres that is actively working on overcoming these barriers. The goal is to transform innovative ideas in the field of technology into value-added products and services by creating an entrepreneurial-friendly ecosystem. A series of support-programmes have been launched in the past years to develop the infrastructure and enable researchers and entrepreneurs to acquire new skills and get access to professional networks and funding opportunities.

Izmir NIC project

“There are a lot of different initiatives dedicated to boost the innovation potential and the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region. They are on the right path, but still at an early stage,” said Lorenzo Valeriani, Senior Expert at META Group. Lorenzo participated in the İzmir Network and Innovation Centre Project (İzmir NIC), which aimed to stimulate the development and commercialization of innovative solutions to meet the needs of users in an international context.

Funded through EUROPAID, the project aimed to improve early-stage start-ups investment readiness through:

• Ecosystem building: increase the capacity of the ecosystem through training, networking, legal support, awareness raising and the creation of a partnership framework.
• Technology framework: create a reliable and scalable technology infrastructure to allow the efficient delivery of Izmir NIC Hub services.

“One of our main objectives was to equip local trainers with the necessary concepts and methodologies required when mentoring innovators working in very competitive and highly specialised fields. The trainers we have worked with had different backgrounds but were very engaged and eager to learn international best practices. If all the players in the ecosystem are involved and willing to work together, great results can be expected in the following years,” Lorenzo added.

Bringing innovation to the market

Laying the foundation of a strong ecosystem is a prerequisite for encouraging innovators to develop novel solutions. Another one is providing them with expert support in complementary areas that allow for their solutions to reach the market and generate impact.

In Izmir, this second phase is addresses by the D-TECH4ENT initiative. The aim of this project is to nurture promising disruptive ideas by providing deep-tech entrepreneurs with support for prototyping, validation, and demonstration in real world conditions, and allowing for wider deployment, scale-up and uptake.

The incubator serves as a “hatchery” for early-stage high risk deep-techs startups, with training programmes covering marketing, pitching, financing and management. After the trainings, the organizers will hold a match-making meeting in İzmir to bring together corporate companies, investors, and start-ups from the relevant ecosystem, and to increase their opportunities for cooperation. D-TECH4ENT expects to facilitate the development of 12 new and innovative products, as well as 6 national and 2 international patent applications.

Deep tech startups offer unique opportunities by developing impactful solutions to real life problems like climate change, healthcare, or access to green energy. In Europe, and according to the 2023 European Deep Tech report by Dealroom, European deep tech startups raised $17.7B in 2022, a 22% decrease from 2021. The four main categories in deep tech are novel AI, future of computing, novel energy, and space tech.

Initiatives like İzmir NIC and D-TECH4ENT enable deep tech innovators and entrepreneurs to build the next generation of category-defining businesses that will shape our societies. Contact our team to learn how META Group can support your organisation with similar support solutions.

You might also like:

• How to Support Deeptech Innovation in Enabling Transformative Change

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Let’s talk about ECO2FUEL and your involvement in the project.

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