Active Technology Transfer

Innovation support programmes for SMEs have been offered for several years by the Technology Transfer Office (TT) of Graz University of Technology in co-operation with different partners (University of Mining & Metallurgy Leoben, JOANNEUM RESEARCH, Karl-Franzens-University Graz, CTR AG (Carinthia). It is funded usually on an annual contract basis by different public bodies (eg the City Council of Graz, department of business development). This programme addresses primarily small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in a specific region which do not have, so far, direct links to the academic world. Companies are identified using computer-aided marketing tools (company databases, research directories) and are offered brief audits "on the shop-floor" to identify problems which may be solved using academic expertise available in the region. This will include not only engineering or science related issues. At the same time company executives are informed about potential regional experts (university staff, experts from research centres and economic promotion agencies, as well as in other SMEs) and ways and costs of collaboration. As an additional feature, relevant funding information is provided. Moreover under a specific local scheme SMEs are given the opportunity to give presentations at an annual recruiting event at TU Graz, called "Small Can Do It All".