University College Dublin (UCD) has been recognised for leading the way in research collaboration with industry in Ireland, according to Knowledge Transfer Ireland’s latest Annual Knowledge Transfer Survey (AKTS) for 2023. UCD, through its knowledge transfer office, NovaUCD, secured 98 research collaboration agreements with industry, the highest number in the country.
In addition to its industry collaborations, UCD excelled in several other key areas. It recorded the highest number of collaboration and consultancy agreements with non-commercial entities, with 132 agreements in total. UCD also received 81 invention and software disclosures, filed 18 new patent applications, and had 12 previously filed patents progress to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) stage. Furthermore, UCD established six new spin-out companies, showcasing its strong commitment to innovation and economic growth.
The AKTS report, which gathers data from various Higher Education Institutes across Ireland, highlighted these achievements, reflecting the university’s significant contributions to research and innovation. Professor Kate Robson Brown, UCD’s Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact, praised the efforts of the NovaUCD team in commercialising the university’s research outputs. She emphasised the importance of these results as evidence of the university’s world-class research capabilities and expressed her enthusiasm for continuing to build on this success with the support of the KT Boost programme.
A notable case study in the AKTS report is UCD’s collaboration with Poolbeg Pharma to develop a vaccine for Melioidosis, a potentially deadly tropical disease. Associate Professor Siobhán McClean from UCD’s School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science led the development of the vaccine, which was licensed to Poolbeg Pharma in 2021 for further development. Poolbeg Pharma’s CEO, Dr Jeremy Skillington, highlighted the positive experience of working with UCD and expressed interest in expanding their collaboration.
Knowledge Transfer Ireland, part of Enterprise Ireland, plays a crucial role in facilitating access to expertise, technology, and intellectual property from publicly funded research in Ireland. The 2023 AKTS report shows positive trends, including a 12% increase in live R&D collaborative projects with industry, an 8% rise in spin-out companies, and an 18% increase in jobs within these companies, with a total of 1,845 jobs reported.
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Peter Burke, welcomed these developments, noting their alignment with Ireland’s Research and Innovation Strategy, Impact 2030. Christian Stafford, Head of Knowledge Transfer Ireland, also emphasised the importance of innovation for growth, highlighting that companies engaged in research and innovation activities through Enterprise Ireland’s support tend to perform significantly better in terms of sales, turnover, and exports.
UCD’s achievements in research collaboration and innovation, as highlighted by the AKTS report, underscore its pivotal role in driving economic growth and fostering technological advancements in Ireland.
Poolbeg Pharma plc (LON:POLB) is a clinical stage infectious disease pharmaceutical company, with a novel capital light clinical model which enables us to develop multiple products faster and more cost effectively than the traditional biotech model.
