The University of Agder (UiA) has received nearly NOK 1.8 million from the Research Council of Norway for the project "Upscaling early-stage technology transfer".
"Innovation is a central part of UiA's social responsibility, and this funding provides us with even better conditions to drive sustainable development and create value, both regionally and nationally."
This is according to Kristina Walker-Nordlöf, team coordinator and senior innovation adviser at UiA.
Through the project, UiA aims to enhance its innovation services, build competence in research-based innovation and further strengthen the collaboration between academic environments and the innovation team.
"The funding allows us to offer even more and better innovation services to our staff and help further develop research-based ideas from UiA, creating value for society," says Walker-Nordlöf.
The Research Council's support for commercialisation aims to boost the commercial use of publicly funded research. And interest in innovation stemming from research is significant. Overall, the Research Council received 34 applications from 40 research institutions.
"Norway has strong research environments with ideas and results that have great potential for value creation. The government has worked to ensure that public funding for research and development increasingly translates into value and jobs across the country. This is important for Norway's competitiveness," says Minister of Research and Higher Education Oddmund Hoel in a press release (in Norwegian).