Relationships with industry are key to building and strengthening an ecosystem that is based on the diffusion of knowledge and innovation.
Collaborations between the Politecnico di Torino and companies can cover activities in:
- research and development,
- teaching and training,
- space and infrastructure,
- business and open innovation,
- communication.
The initiation of new collaborations generally begins through Consultancy Contracts or Research Contracts: if the technological topic is cutting-edge, the first step is a careful analysis of the state of the art, and then devising and assessing the feasibility of new solutions.
Subsequently, actual technological development can be undertaken through experimental work that engages researchers for several months in close and continuous discussion with the company.
If the intention is then to continue the collaboration on an ongoing basis and through various joint activities, the most appropriate instrument is the Partnership Agreement (PAs), which is a multi-annual agreement that provides a single contractual framework for the various types of collaboration.
PAs represent an ever-growing value that, from technology collaboration, increasingly becomes a strategic dialogue and indispensable discussion on issues related to Innovation and contemporary grand challenges.
One of the key issues in PAs from a technology transfer perspective is the appropriate regulation of intellectual property rights that may arise from joint research and/or development activities, with the aim of defining co-ownership and joint filing, and anticipating future valorisation strategies that may involve the transfer of the patent or its licence to the company.
Companies in partnership with our University are united in RETE (NET - Network of Excellence in Technologies), the network created to create opportunities for discussion, outline new scenarios and build joint projects. Special initiatives and services are reserved for RETE companies.
Within the Research, Technology Transfer and Innovation Department (RIMIN), the Corporate Relations Office supervises the PAs and guarantees transversal support to all University departments in the management of collaborations, research and innovation.
