Marta Catarino, Director of TecMinho, Portugal, is the new president of the pan-European association for technology transfer (TT) professionals, ASTP-Proton. Together with the ASTP-Proton team, and with the active support of its members, she will continue to drive the transformation of the association initiated by former presidents Sara Matt-Leubner and Christian Stein following the merger between ASTP and Proton-Europe in 2013.
During Christian Stein’s 18-month mandate, ASTP-Proton refined its mission and developed a strategy for the next three years. The overall goal is to grow the organization and extend its reach and impact by offering more attractive and interesting services to its members. Multiple initiatives have been started at various levels:
Growing membership:
The Membership has grown further to include over 800 TT professionals from all over Europe. The goal is to hit the 1,000 mark in the coming years.
Collaborations with national associations have been intensified to improve ASTP-Proton’s outreach. Guidelines for such collaborations are now available.
A new, simplified and more transparent pricing structure has been developed and was approved unanimously during the general assembly in May 2016.
Improving online services:
A new website has been created, to be launched shortly. It will offer a wide range of information and improved tools, including a communication platform for directors.
Livestreams of key talks and sessions of the ASTP-Proton Annual Conference were made available for the first time to those who could not attend.
Driving professionalization:
6 training courses, 4 masterclasses, 3 on-site trainings and 2 site visits were organized and carried out by ASTP-Proton last year.
Further TT professionals have been accredited as RTTPs (Registered Technology Transfer Professional), bringing the total number to over 300. To further drive the number of accreditations, a ‘road to RTTP’ has been developed, detailing how to become a RTTP in a cost- and time-efficient way.
A new service for TTOs (Technology Transfer Organisations) has been launched called ‘peer-review by critical friends’. The first project is to start shortly.
ASTP-Proton contributes actively as a partner to the EU program Progress-TT. As a result, best practices on key aspects of TT-financing and TTO-structuring are now available online (see below).
Increasing reputation & visibility:
ASTP-Proton has launched the 2015 Impact Report presenting impressive examples of how publicly funded research can impact human health and wellbeing.
ASTP-Proton has also carried out a survey of TT activities and results in 2014. There were a record 373 respondents, compared to just 204 in previous surveys. Results will be published in summer 2016.
‘The ASTP-Proton team have achieved a great deal in the past 18 months, advancing a number of key initiatives,’ says the outgoing president Christian Stein. ‘My warmest thanks to them for all their enthusiasm and support during this key phase in ASTP-Proton’s history, and my very best wishes go to Marta Catarino for a successful and enjoyable presidency.’
