To effectively manage the commercialization processes of research, the Bilkent Technology Transfer Office (TTO) organized a workshop on October 10, 2024, as part of the TÜBİTAK-supported BU-TechTransfer project.
The workshop was attended by researchers from our university, UNAM, and NANOTAM, as well as experts in intellectual property and commercialization, professionals from the private sector, and executives from the Ankara Development Agency, along with the directors of the ODTU TTO and Gazi TTO.
The workshop was structured into three main sessions. First, Ercan Orhan, the Strategic Development Coordinator of Bilkent TTO, presented the work carried out during the six-month period of the BU-TechTransfer project, which started on April 1, 2024, and informed the participants about the workshop process.
Following this, the main activity of the workshop consisted of roundtable focus group discussions organized around four specific themes. Each table included 4-5 workshop participants along with a Bilkent TTO expert acting as a rapporteur. One participant moderated the roundtable discussions, where “Goals,” “Actions,” and “Success Criteria” related to the relevant theme were identified and compiled into a report.
As a result of the roundtable discussions, the following reports were produced:
1) Improving communication and relationships with industry
2) Incentives to guide researchers towards industrial collaboration
3) Creating a qualified Intellectual Property portfolio and leveraging it for industry collaboration
4) Strengthening TTO capacity and role
In the final session of the workshop, these reports were presented to all participants, followed by group discussions. Participants contributed significantly to the formation of the strategy document with unique ideas distilled from their experiences and knowledge.