EPFL launches KNOVA to create partnerships with companies
Code-named KNOVA, the project is inspired by kilonovae, the phenomena that occur when two stars fuse to generate precious metals, an apt metaphor for the benefits of combining academia and industry. This is a unique program, which seeks above all to create flexible, practical and impactful relationships between companies and EPFL, so that all parties involved can derive the greatest possible benefit. The aim of KNOVA is to accelerate strategic partnerships so that research can continue to progress and new discoveries can be exploited for the benefit of society.
EPFL has been attracting companies since the day it was founded.
The proof is in the EPFL Innovation Park, located to the south of the campus. With almost 30 major companies, over 150 startups, 11 SMEs and more than 20 service providers, it's packed to the rafters! However, while it is undeniably a success, it has other aspects. In a world that is changing at an incredible speed, where innovations are multiplying, it is crucial to be able to maintain the number of companies at Innovation plant, in order to provide the ingredients for research and maintain the prestige of the school. Otherwise, competition, the quest for excellence and new partnerships will begin to stagnate. Momentum is needed so that these two-way relationships between academia and business can continue to develop, multiply and flourish.
It was with this in mind that the KNOVA program was born, to be implemented in 2021 by the Chargeurs company, which is acting as an early adopter. "KNOVA offers all the structural conditions for the development of links between our company and EPFL. And we've experienced this first-hand by being on site at the Innovation Park for the past year. We only have time to make concrete progress, and the benefits are obvious: we make the most of the excellence of the research, startups and companies in the ecosystem, and contribute to its effervescence. All this makes this program unique. Dr Antoine Aminot, Head of Innovation Partnerships at Chargeurs
KNOVA has a bright future ahead of it, with companies from all sectors already signed up for 2022.
The main objective will remain to increase opportunities between industry and academia by fostering strong partnerships. According to Federico Matteini, Business Developer at the Vice-Presidency for Innovation, "Our relationship with the business world has strengthened over time, and has progressed in parallel with EPFL's growth, the speed of innovation, market volatility and so on. We've noticed that companies want to work with EPFL more and more, but they don't know how to go about it or where to start. They want to know what opportunities and advantages we can offer them within the EPFL ecosystem, and how they can feed their innovation pipeline through appropriate partnerships with researchers, start-ups and industrial partners. For our part, we want to know whether a given company is a good partner for EPFL, and whether it integrates well with other companies, start-ups, students and researchers in the ecosystem. All these questions prompted us to think about how we could more easily create links between the business world and the EPFL ecosystem. That's how we came to create KNOVA.
This strategic partnership gas pedal will give industry players a chance to discover the innovation potential of the EPFL ecosystem, and enable them to build effective research partnerships for the benefit of the company, entrepreneurs, existing industrial partnerships and, of course, students, researchers and start-ups. Although KNOVA is aimed at companies - that is, after all, its raison d'être - the program will be central to students and researchers, who will be able to use it to easily establish potential partnerships for their projects, which could include research, employment opportunities or even the creation of their own company. "We live in an increasingly digital and interconnected age. If society and industry really want to solve the most pressing problems we face, they need to invest in creating strategic partnerships with leading research institutes, such as EPFL." Professor David Atienza Alonso
The program offers favorable structural conditions for the development of intelligent, practical and efficient synergies that will benefit all members of the EPFL ecosystem. It's a win-win situation at every level, where experience meets knowledge, and everyone benefits. We should also mention the enormous time-savings for companies, as their needs are directly addressed and "connected" with the right people within the ecosystem.
KNOVA will run for one year, giving companies twelve months to experience the value that the EPFL ecosystem offers when launching and/or developing innovative projects. The program is open to companies from all sectors.
Source: EPFL Innovation park
