Quite a symbol: it was at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) of Toulouse that the University Innovation Plan of the University of Toulouse (PUI UT) was launched on October 21, one of the 29 winning projects of the France 2030 plan. This project aims to strengthen and streamline exchanges between the academic and business worlds and encourage not only innovation, but also the creation of innovative start-ups. Funded by Bpifrance, the National Research Agency and the Occitanie Region, the PUI has a budget of 7.5 million euros to “innovate together”, according to the slogan chosen by the partners, namely University of Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse Tech Transfer and the regional incubator Nubbo.
Energized collaboration
“This plan will enrich our ecosystem, intensify the creation of start-ups from public research and support the rise in quality of research platforms,” summarizes Thierry Bosch, vice-president of the University of Toulouse. The university site, made up of fifteen universities and major schools, seven national research organizations, 145 laboratories and more than 7,000 researchers, is committed to facilitating the transfer of scientific technological advances to businesses.
For Mickaël Toplis, president of the University of Toulouse, the project “is not an additional structure, but a place for exchanges between the multiple stakeholders involved”. It also relies on a Strategic Orientation Committee (COS), chaired by Stéphanie Limouzin, Managing Director of CLS. “To collaborate, you have to know each other, you have to talk to each other, you have to share common interests and objectives. And from there, it works! “, she said.
Tools for businesses, researchers and doctoral students
The new plan aims to offer companies simplified access to laboratories in the region, in particular via the Labconnect online platform, listing those who are ready to collaborate with companies, as well as a link to research platforms. The university also provides its network of business engineers and technical and strategic support via research partnerships, proofs of concept, and technological transfers leading to the creation of businesses. The PUI also aims to be a tool for researchers and doctoral students to transform their research into concrete applications and support them in business creation, via training courses, seminars and a support program called Starthesis.
The Occitanie Region, a stakeholder in the project, insists, through its vice-president Nadia Pellefigue, in charge of economic development, innovation, research and higher education, on the importance of innovation for the territory. “Investment in research and development represents 3.7 points of regional gross domestic product, which places (us) among the top 20 European regions in terms of research,” she recalls. Among the actions, the Region supports the desire to double the number of creations of young innovative companies, from fifty to one hundred per year. And to make this university innovation center an essential driver of economic development and value creation in West Occitanie.
Valérie Ravinet
In the photo: PUI partners gathered at the Toulouse Chamber of Commerce and Industry on October 21. Credits: University of Toulouse.
