Academia and the research sector enrich our lives with technical, business and social innovations that move our society forward and ensure that the economy is competitive. For this reason, connections to real-world applications and transfers are growing increasingly important in terms of evaluating research institutions and research projects. Public providers of funding are increasingly focusing on possible applications being described early on, when funds to support research are first being applied for. In addition, innovation frequently gives rise to new research questions and research projects that can be worked on as part of cooperative initiatives with companies.

Profund Innovation supports the culture of innovation and transfer on campus. We are the first point of contact for researchers, providing expertise and advice. We also actively seek out dialogue with researchers at institutes and departments in order to learn early on about research findings that have the potential for application.

Through two programs, we aim to motivate scholars, scientists, and researchers from across all departments to think about applications for their research:

• The annual Research to Market Challenge idea competition offers opportunities to develop and evaluate product or business ideas quickly and on a solid footing.
• Berlin InnoBridge is a structured innovation program in which scholars, scientists, and researchers as well as companies based in Berlin can enlist the aid of students enrolled in master’s degree programs in business administration to further hone their innovation ideas.

Valididerung reduziert Risiken

Very few findings derived from basic research lead directly to a market-ready application. The goal of support for validation is to review, demonstrate, and evaluate the innovation potential of research results and find suitable fields of application. Successful validation reduces the risk undertaken by third parties when they invest in further development. Profund Innovation supports scholars, scientists, and researchers in preparing applications for the following aid programs:

• VIP+ Validierung des technologischen und gesellschaftlichen Innovationspotenzials wissenschaftlicher Forschung (German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
• ERC Proof of Concept Grant (European Research Council)

For invention-based projects, funds are also available at Freie Universität Berlin under the Berlin Quality and Innovation Offensive (Berliner Qualitäts- und Innovationsoffensive).