Prague, June 26 (CTK) – The Charles University (UK) has founded a daughter firm named Charles University Innovations Prague (CUIP) for transfers of scientific knowledge into practice, which it owns fully, as the first university in the Czech Republic, UK’s officials told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday.
CUIP is to serve as a bridge between teams of scientists and companies and will aim to found and support spin-off companies that will implement the research results in their business activities.
The UK put a share capital of 3 million crowns in CUIP, the university’s rector Tomas Zima said.
In the beginning, CUIP’s budget of 3-4 million crowns a year will be financed from the UK’s fund derived from its activities. CUIP is expected to be receiving subsidies for about five years.
Zima presented this endeavour as a unique concept within the Czech system of university education, which will contribute to a more effective transfer of scientific knowledge and technologies from the university area to the commercial partners and consequently the public as well.
So far, the Centre for Transfers of Knowledge and Technology (CPPT), which was founded in 2007, has been performing these tasks.
Thanks to CUIP, the UK will be able to put a number of unique scientific projects and discoveries into practice, and place itself side to side with the best universities in the world, Zima said.
Last year, the UK gained 37 million crowns from its transfer of knowledge into practice, while it was around 11 million crowns some three years ago, Zima said.
He hopes to see the profits from knowledge transfers to increase further, he added.
The CPPT center will remain part of the university and will act as CUIP’s partner, whose task will be to support teams of scientists in legal matters and in obtaining patents. It will also seek out interesting issues for scientific research.
Projects with commercial use will be passed to the CUIP, which will secure the foundation of a suitable company or the sale of an industrial property or of a licence.
According to CPPT’s head Hana Kosova, the centre has identified several projects which could be interesting for the investors.
Zima said the UK has been negotiating with potential partners with regard to cooperation in the treatment of tumours or to the interactive video game Attentat 1942 about the Nazi occupation of Bohemia and Moravia.
“This programme gained a number of national and international awards and we see interest from abroad in providing this commercially in televisions, education etc,” he said.
Current CPPT’s deputy director Otomar Slama will be CUIP’s executive director.
