Her company’s mission is successful commercialisation of research in Rogaland county. It forms part of the infrastructure on the university campus in Stavanger, and in the research and innovation community at the Rogaland Science Park.
Prekubator is owned by six regional research institutes – the International Research Institute of Stavanger (Iris), the Science Park, Stavanger University Hospital, the Rogaland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Norconserv and the UiS.
Founded in 2002, this company was placed on a more formal footing in the summer of 2006 as the technology transfer office (TTO) for the UiS.
Put simply, the TTO is responsible for helping to take new knowledge and technological solutions from research teams and convert them to commercial activities.
Successful
Prekubator ranks today as one of Norway’s leading enterprises of its kind when measured by commercialisation success in relation to the project funds received.
According to figures from the Research Council of Norway, it could report the best results in the country in 2003 and 2004 for company start-ups based on newly-developed ideas.
The TTO’s object is to strengthen the commitment to research-based innovation at the UiS. Ensuring that research results benefit the community through start-ups, patents and licensing is part of the university’s wider role.
- Establishing a TTO function is intended to professionalise our commitment to commercialising research results, says Kristel Skorge, deputy director of the UiS and a member of the Prekubator board.
- Experience shows that these projects generate more research by our specialists and strengthen relations with the outside world. We also hope that we’ll be allocated funds for this activity, allowing us to contribute more to each project.
Ideas
- Our job is not only to help promote good ideas, but also to identify new concepts,”says Ms Husebø.
- We want to make a commitment attractive. Our philosophy is to help UiS staff who have good ideas to take these forward without having to bear the financial risk along. Prekubator contributes capital and expertise to the commercialisation process, she adds.
- Networks are worth their weight in gold. We act as a matchmaker, bringing the owner of an idea together with commercial players.
Fruitful
- A good TTO activity also provides a fruitful collaboration with industry on developing local products and services, which again creates more jobs in the region, says Ms Skorge.
- The UiS also becomes a more vigorous institution and thereby attractive to students. So we expect the Ministry of Education and Research to provide the same level of funding for our TTO activity as the other Norwegian universities receive.
