From Research Excellence to Market Readiness: CORE12.01 Fellows Complete Strategic Research Foundations for Innovation

Transforming promising research into a market-ready innovation requires more than scientific excellence. Researchers must also understand how to protect their knowledge, assess the commercial landscape, build the right team, engage the appropriate partners and ensure that their technology addresses a genuine market need.

These were the central themes of Strategic Research Foundations for Innovation, the second module of the CORE12.01 Research Valorisation Training Programme, which has now been successfully completed by the CORE12.01 Innovation Fellows.

Delivered by the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), the five-session module introduced participants to the strategic foundations underpinning successful ClimateTech commercialisation. The programme combined theoretical frameworks, practical tools, real-world examples and exercises connected to the Fellows’ own innovation journeys.

The module was delivered with the contribution of experts from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) and its Archimedes Center for Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Dr Yannis Dimitrakopoulos, Technology Transfer Office Manager at the Archimedes Unit, and Antonios D. Livieratos, Assistant Professor at NKUA, Scientific Advisor at Archimedes and ClimateTech entrepreneur.

Connecting research with technology transfer ecosystems

The first session focused on leveraging networks and Technology Transfer Offices as researchers move from scientific discovery towards commercial application.

Participants explored how technology and knowledge can move between research institutions and industry through mechanisms such as collaborative research and development, contract research, licensing and the creation of university spin-offs. The session also examined the evolving role of Technology Transfer Offices in supporting intellectual property protection, commercialisation planning, industry collaboration and venture creation.

Using the Archimedes Center at NKUA as a practical example, Fellows considered how an integrated Technology Transfer Office and business accelerator can support researchers throughout different stages of their innovation journey.

A practical ecosystem-mapping exercise encouraged participants to identify:

• The relationships and resources already available to them
• Important connections that are currently missing
• The organisations and individuals they should prioritise at the idea, validation, pilot and scaling stages

The session introduced the Develop+Protect+Commercialise model, which brings technical development, intellectual property decisions and market validation together rather than treating them as separate or sequential processes.

Building teams capable of turning ideas into ventures

A strong technology alone does not create a successful venture. The second session therefore concentrated on entrepreneurial team building and the role of people in moving an innovation forward.

Fellows examined the characteristics commonly found in effective founding teams, including shared vision, mutual trust, commitment and complementary capabilities. They also considered how diversity of knowledge, experience and perspective can strengthen decision-making and improve a venture’s ability to respond to complex challenges.

The discussion extended beyond the founding team to the wider network of people who contribute to entrepreneurial development. Participants explored the different roles of:

• Founders and co-founders
• Mentors
• Strategic and technical advisors
• Advisory board members
• Early employees and collaborators

The session invited Fellows to reflect on the strengths and gaps within their own teams and support networks. This helped them identify the capabilities they may need to access or recruit as their innovations progress.

The central message was clear: team composition is not simply an operational issue. It can directly influence a venture’s credibility, adaptability and capacity to attract partners, customers and investors.

Understanding Freedom to Operate

The third session addressed a distinction that can significantly affect the future of any research-based innovation: the difference between owning intellectual property and having the freedom to commercialise it.

A patent may protect an invention, but it does not automatically provide permission to manufacture, use or sell that invention. Third-party patent rights may still cover parts of the technology, product or process.

Through a green-hydrogen case study, Fellows were introduced to the principles of Freedom to Operate, or FTO. They learned how to conduct an initial patent-landscape investigation using tools including Espacenet, International Patent Classification codes and the European Patent Register.

The session also covered how to:

• Read and interpret patent claims
• Apply the all-elements rule when examining potential infringement
• Review the legal status and geographical coverage of a patent
• Identify pending applications that could later affect commercialisation
• Recognise when professional support from a Technology Transfer Office or patent attorney is required

Participants considered the strategic options available when a potential blocking right is identified. These can include designing around the relevant patent claim, negotiating a licence, challenging the patent’s validity or reconsidering a business or market decision.

By approaching FTO early, researchers can reduce legal uncertainty and avoid investing substantial resources in a commercialisation route that may later prove difficult or impossible to pursue.

Aligning innovations with real market needs

The fourth session shifted attention towards market alignment: ensuring that an innovation responds to a real, significant and sufficiently urgent customer problem.

Instead of beginning with a completed technology and subsequently searching for potential applications, participants explored a more iterative approach based on Lean Startup principles. This requires researchers to engage with prospective users and customers early, test their assumptions and use the resulting evidence to guide development.

Fellows learned how to define a customer problem through concrete use cases, identify the alternative solutions already available and analyse competitors as any organisations or approaches attempting to solve the same underlying need.

The session also introduced market segmentation and the selection of an initial beachhead market. Potential market segments can be compared according to factors such as:

• Accessibility
• Purchasing power
• Intensity and urgency of the problem
• Existing competition
• The team’s ability to deliver
• Opportunities for expansion into related markets

Problem interviews and the problem-recognition scale were presented as practical tools for assessing whether potential customers recognise the problem, actively seek a solution and demonstrate a willingness to pay.

This evidence-based process helps researchers establish stronger alignment between the customer, the problem and the proposed solution before committing extensive time and resources to product development.

Using intellectual property strategically

The final session brought the different elements of the module together through a broader examination of Intellectual Property strategy.

Participants explored the full range of Intellectual Property Rights that may contribute to protecting and commercialising an innovation. These included patents, trademarks, registered designs, copyright, database rights and trade secrets. Fellows also considered how several forms of protection can apply simultaneously to different components of the same product or service.

The session examined the commercial role of intellectual property in:

• Building a defensible competitive position
• Supporting company valuation
• Attracting investors and research partners
• Creating licensing opportunities
• Strengthening long-term commercial advantage

Fellows were introduced to the main requirements for patent protection—novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability—and the importance of conducting prior-art searches before filing an application.

They also explored the strategic decisions involved in determining what to protect, when to file and where protection may be required. Depending on the innovation and its commercial objectives, this could involve national applications, European or Unitary Patent routes, international applications through the Patent Cooperation Treaty, or the decision to retain selected knowledge as a trade secret.

Particular attention was given to the position of academic researchers. The session addressed questions of institutional ownership, research collaborations, publicly funded projects and the critical timing between publishing research findings and filing a patent application.

The objective was not simply to encourage Fellows to patent every innovation. Instead, participants were encouraged to develop an IP strategy that reflects their technology, commercial pathway, target markets, available resources and long-term objectives.

Building an integrated commercialisation strategy

Across its five sessions, Strategic Research Foundations for Innovation demonstrated that commercialisation cannot be reduced to a single activity or decision.

Technology development, intellectual property, market validation, team formation and ecosystem engagement are deeply interconnected. Decisions made in one area can either strengthen or restrict the options available in another.

The official CORE12.01 project framework describes the module as focusing on:

“Intellectual Property Rights strategy, Freedom to Operate, and the importance of building a complementary team.”

It also emphasises the need to leverage Technology Transfer Offices, existing networks and industry collaboration so that innovations can be validated with end users and aligned more closely with market needs.

This reflects the wider purpose of the CORE12.01 Research Valorisation Training Programme: to provide Fellows with both the theoretical foundations and practical insights required to transform research into commercially viable technologies. The Grant Agreement states that the programme is designed to equip Innovation Fellows with:

“the skills and resources needed to transform research into commercially viable technologies.”

With this module completed, Fellows can apply its methods directly to their own commercialisation pathways and Innovator Masterplans. They are better positioned to identify strategic gaps, engage the right partners, assess intellectual property risks and opportunities, validate market assumptions and build teams capable of moving promising ClimateTech research closer to real-world adoption.

This is an essential step in the wider CORE12.01 journey: helping European researchers connect scientific excellence with the strategic capabilities required to deliver meaningful environmental, societal and commercial impact.