Transfer structures at the UMG

The UMG aims to establish the transfer of research results for the benefit of mankind as an equally important goal alongside research, teaching and patient care. To realise this important task, a Dean for Transfer has been appointed. The Dean's Office for Transfer realises this goal together with the UMG's Technology Transfer Office (TTO) and the UMG Accelerator.

New, high quality research results are produced every day at the UMG. Although these results are usually published in high-ranking national and international journals and thus made available to the public, they often do not end up where they are most needed: in improving people's health and quality of life. Translating a research finding, or even just an idea, into a 'product' that improves the diagnosis and treatment of patients or the prevention of disease in healthy people requires not only a broad range of expertise, but also considerable financial resources that cannot be provided by the healthcare system and/or traditional third-party funding agencies such as the German Research Foundation (DFG), the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) or the European Union.

In order to facilitate the development from idea to product, the Dean's Office for Transfer, the TTO and the UMG Accelerator work closely together in the following areas

Dean's Office

The Dean's Office for Transfer (Head: Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Zeisberg) conducts systematic scouting to identify ideas and research results at the UMG that have the potential to be developed into a useful product for the benefit of patients*. At the same time, the suitability of funding specifically for transfer projects is examined, with the aim of informing scientists about suitable calls for proposals and supporting them in the application process if they are interested. For example, institutions such as the Institute for Biomedical Translation Lower Saxony (IBT) or the European Innovation Council (EIC) can be included in the funding format.

Technology Transfer Office

The Technology Transfer Office (TTO) of the UMG (Head: Dr Isaac Shariv) evaluates the invention disclosures and protects the intellectual property of the scientists by filing a patent application. The TTO is advised by a patent committee composed of members from various disciplines within and outside the UMG. Through its expertise and business development activities, the TTO actively promotes further exploitation by licensing the patent to industry or to start-up companies founded by the inventors.
The TTO works closely with MBM ScienceBridge GmbH. This subsidiary of the University of Göttingen and the Göttingen University Medical Centre has been advising universities and research institutions throughout Lower Saxony for 20 years on how to patent and license inventions and research results. As a patent exploitation agency, it is also responsible for the marketing of patents.

UMG Accelerator

The UMG Accelerator (Head: Dr Liat Nissimov-Brück) provides professional support to scientists with the aim of bringing their research results or product candidates to a higher level of development (Technology Readiness Level (TRL)) and thus making their research more plausible with regard to the possibility of commercialisation for targeted transfer/industry funding. This reduces the risk of failure in the further development of the product candidate for industry, but also for start-ups, so that an increase in the number of out-licensing agreements and, ultimately, income for the UMG can be expected. Another important goal is to anchor the transfer in education. To this end, Dr Nissimov-Brück has set up the "Drug Development" course at the UMG, which is also open to students from Hanover and Braunschweig.