Rectorate adopts transfer strategy

The important third pillar

After Ruhr University Bochum adopted a transfer model in 2022, things are now becoming concrete: the Rectorate has decided on the transfer strategy. Professor Günther Meschke, Vice Rector for Research and Transfer, explains what this means in an interview.

Professor Meschke, why does RUB need a transfer strategy?
A few years ago, we set out the goals and framework conditions that we associate with the term “transfer” in our transfer mission statement. We deliberately defined what we mean in broad terms: technical cooperation with companies, support for start-ups, advising political decision-makers, interaction with urban society, and cooperation with various social groups, such as cultural professionals. Even back then, we recognized that concrete measures would have to be developed to achieve this. We have now decided on these measures in our strategy.

Fulfilling our responsibility to business and society

What measures are involved? 
We have defined four strategic target areas – transfer culture and framework conditions, improving visibility and networking, innovation, and social responsibility – from which a total of five fields of action have been derived. The individual measures of the transfer strategy are based on these fields of action and are highly differentiated.

One example: transfer is to be anchored more firmly than before in the university culture as the third pillar of the university alongside research and teaching, so that it is clear to everyone that RUB, with all its diversity of subjects, is fulfilling its responsibility to business and society. We want to achieve this goal by, for example, embedding transfer-relevant criteria as an integral part of the RUB's evaluation and target agreement procedures, implementing incentive systems, and establishing qualification programs on the topic of innovation and impact. Not everything in the strategy is new. Much of it has already been started and is now being further developed. 

Are we checking whether the strategy is being implemented successfully? 
In the course of developing the transfer strategy, for which we surveyed many internal and external groups with the support of a service provider, we set up a task force as a kind of advisory board that represented the entire disciplinary spectrum of the RUB. This task force was extremely helpful in refining the strategy and prioritizing measures, and will in future become a monitoring board that reviews our progress in implementing the goals each year.

We want to identify more transfer potential in the faculties than we have done so far.

How will students and researchers notice that the strategy is being implemented? 
The strategy strengthens knowledge and technology transfer at all levels of RUB. We want to identify transfer potential in the faculties more than before and establish or further develop structures to effectively support researchers in implementing their ideas. 

Doctoral students will notice this through a wide range of transfer-oriented qualification opportunities as part of their doctoral studies; students will notice it when they translate scientific findings into practical solutions in student projects or gain their first experience with the topic of “start-ups” in a playful way as part of entrepreneurship courses.