Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI TECNOLOGIA
2018 - 2023
STRATEGICPLAN
CONTENTSEXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3
IIT’s second decade 3
Research Vision 3
Technology Transfer 4
Human Capital and High-Level Education 4
Completion of the IIT System 4
IIT’S TWIN MISSIONS 5
Research Domains (RDs) and the Priorities 6
The technology transfer strategy for 2018-2023 8
IIT LEADERSHIP TARGETS 10
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN: ENABLING STRATEGIES 11
Human Capital: recruitment strategy, international attractiveness, and high-level education 11
Completion of the Central Research Laboratories in Genoa 12
IIT’s Network of Academic Laboratories 14
The IIT Clinical Network 14
Outlook for IIT in the next 3 years 15
APPENDIX 1: IIT FACTS AND FIGURES 16
APPENDIX 2: EUROPEAN COMMUNITY FUNDING SCHEME 22
APPENDIX 3: JOINT LABS WITH INDUSTRIES AND CLINICAL INSTITUTIONS 24
APPENDIX 4: START UP COMPANIES 25
APPENDIX 5: THE ACADEMIC NETWORK 27
APPENDIX 6: ACRONYMS 28
IIT 2018-2023 Strategic Plan
3
The Strategic Plan comprises two documents and their Appendices:
❚ The General Plan, which describes IIT’s mission, the scientific and technological challenges, the implementation strategy, and the organization of research. The General Plan provides a global overview of the Strategic Plan to help policy makers, stakeholders, and scientists understand IIT’s main development directions in the coming years;
❚ The Technical Annex, which provides a complete description of IIT’s four Research Domains (RDs), their priorities, and their impact with respect to IIT’s mission and challenges.
The Strategic Plan is conceived as a rolling document, encompassing a six-year period from 2018 to 2023. A detailed implementation plan covers the period 2018-2020 and runs under the framework of Horizon 2020. Horizon 2020 is the current European Framework Program, which funds research and innovation up to 2020. A detailed implemen-tation plan for the period 2021-2023 will be developed after confirmation of the structure and funding priorities of the forthcoming 9th Framework Program (FP9), which is most likely to cover the period 2021-2027.
IIT’s second decade Since its foundation, IIT’s driving force has been to develop new knowledge and translate it into concrete applica-tions by adopting a fully interdisciplinary approach. With its first strategic plan, the Humanoid Technology Program (2009-2011), IIT introduced the concept of bioinspired intelligent machines to support humans in everyday life. This concept brought together disciplines such as neuroscience, nanotechnology, and mechatronics, which, until then, had barely communicated with each other. The 2012-2014 plan expanded this interdisciplinary vision by introducing the concept of Translating Evolution into Technology, i.e. systematically mimicking natural solutions to develop new technologies in the fields of robotics, materials science, and life science. This created the knowledge basis for the most recent strategic plan of 2015-2017 for an interdisciplinary research program centered on the Human Being. In accordance with this plan, IIT has started to apply different bioinspired technologies to healthcare, sustainability, and personal assistance.
Ten years after the inauguration of the first IIT laboratory in Genoa, IIT begins its second decade with a critical mass in terms of infrastructure, people, and skills, including around 1520 people from 58 countries (age <35 years), 12 sites, 21 different scientific profiles from medicine to engineering, around 70 principal investigators including 18 ERC winners (with a few more under negotiations), more than 8500 scientific publications, more than 400 industrial projects, 11 joint laboratories with industries and/or research institutions and 150 European projects, 17 start-ups (with several more undergoing due diligence), and more than 570 international patents (see Appendix 1).
Research VisionIIT’s research vision reflects the overarching priority of developing Human-Centered Science and Technologies by adopting an approach that is not merely multidisciplinary, but rather seeks to merge different skills and expertise into a truly interdisciplinary synthesis (Nature, 525, 289-290, 2015). In agreement with this vision and the Institute’s scientific identity, the Strategic Plan identifies four strategic Research Domains (RDs) to be developed over the peri-od 2018-2023: Robotics, Nanomaterials, Technologies for Life Science (LifeTech), and Computational Sciences. Each domain identifies well-defined Priorities, aimed at consolidating the existing leadership in research/technology areas and exploring innovative high-risk high-gain ideas.
Robotics and Nanomaterials are core areas of IIT’s excellence. In the Robotics RD, in addition to the well-established activity on Humanoids, Human-Machine Interaction, and Robotic Rehabilitation, there will be an expansion of research in Soft Robotics and Companion Robots, supported by the new Deep Learning and Machine Learning teams established in collaboration with the Computational Sciences RD. The Nanomaterials RD will continue to develop its fundamental Materials Science research in the fields of nanocomposites, environmentally friendly materials,
Executive Summary
4
colloidal chemistry, and graphene-based compounds. It will progressively expand its technological activity to target new solutions for energy storage, photovoltaic devices, and biodegradable materials. Important new developments are expected in the field of nanosensors and nanomaterials for therapy, high-sensitivity diagnostics, and traceabil-ity (e.g. food traceability). The research direction of the LifeTech RD is evolving from fundamental neuroscience, as developed in previous years, to focus on patient-centered technology platforms that are co-designed with research hospitals and clinical research institutes (IRCCS). This new orientation requires broader scientific expertise, includ-ing genomics and RNA technologies, nanomaterials, robotics, and computational sciences. With this expertise, the LifeTech RD will build an interdisciplinary framework to co-develop technologies for healthcare, including clinical genomics, robotic-assisted surgery and neuro-rehabilitation, and optical and electronics sensing and diagnostics. Finally, the Computational Sciences RD will substantially expand the Compunet initiative, which was launched during the previous strategic plan. Its core areas will be Multiscale Modeling, High-Performance Computing (HPC), Deep Learning, and Machine Learning. These core areas will form a transversal knowledge base for modeling and comput-ing in all of IIT’s research domains, from material science to biology to artificial intelligence and robotics.
Technology TransferTechnology Transfer will be central to IIT’s strategy, with a twofold target:
i. Translating technologies to industry and to the production system by continuing to develop joint research programs with industry and by exploiting IIT’s large patent portfolio to create new start-ups and Joint Laboratories with national and international companies in all research areas of the Strategic Plan;
ii. Translating technologies to healthcare by co-designing and transferring IIT technology platforms (such as robots, sensors, materials) to healthcare, surgery, diagnostics, and therapy via joint research programs and Joint Labora-tories with research hospitals and clinical research institutes (IRCCS).
The four pillars of the Technology Transfer strategy of IIT will be: (I) Sponsored Research Agreements with Industries; (II) IP protection and licensing; (III) Joint Laboratories with industries and Research Institutions; and (IV) Start-up compa-nies. In addition, two new initiatives will begin during the first three years of the Strategic Plan: (V) a start-up incuba-tor, supported by a public investment fund, will be established to offer laboratories and working areas for high-tech start-ups at the new Erzelli site by the beginning of 2019; (VI) an investment vehicle to support early-stage technolo-gy ventures from IIT. This is presently under negotiation with a major private investment bank in Italy.
Human Capital and High-Level EducationExcellence in recruitment will be IIT’s key success factor. To reach steady state (estimated at around 1700 people given the current level of extramural funding), several new PIs will be hired according to the highest international recruitment standards. IIT’s main instrument in securing top-quality human capital will be its international-level Tenure Track system. Ad hoc measures, such as the Brain Magnet Program (described in Section 4), will enhance the Institute’s attractiveness to winners of prestigious individual research grants (such as ERC, Armenise etc.), and further improve the quality already attained. Similarly, new international agreements for PhD positions and junior postdoc selection through European Networks of Excellence (such as the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions) will strengthen IIT’s high-level education.
Completion of the IIT SystemIn the next three years, IIT will complete the infrastructural expansion of the Central Research Laboratories (CRL) in the west side of Genoa with the completion of the Robotics Center (S. Quirico Building) and the Center for Human Technologies (CHT; at the Erzelli Science Park). These expansions have been almost entirely supported by several donations. The Center for Human Technologies will connect to a network of research hospitals and clinical research institutes (IRCCS) under the umbrella of a national agreement with the Ministry of Health and Regione Liguria to accelerate the exploitation of different IIT technology platforms in the field of healthcare. The update and reorga-nization of the network of Centers will be completed by 2019, following the evaluation and subsequent recommen-dations of the most recent site visits. Finally, IIT plans to launch several new collaborative initiatives in the fields of materials and diagnostics for cultural heritages (together with the Cà Foscari University in Venice), food technology (in collaboration with Cattolica University), and biomedical imaging (in collaboration with the University of Turin). These programs aim to translate IIT technologies into new application domains. International collaborations and joint initiatives with public and private organizations will receive particular support in order to create IIT outstations abroad or technology transfer programs at the organizations’ sites. In this respect, there are several ongoing negotia-tions, which will be disclosed in the coming months.
5
PRODUCE NEW KNOWLEDGE AND TRANSFER TECHNOLOGYThe Strategic Plan is designed to fulfill IIT’s twin missions:
First Mission: To conduct cutting-edge research. This is essentially a research mission to produce and foster new knowledge at the forefront of science and technology.
Second Mission: To transfer technology to the production system and to society. The end-users of this mission will be companies and clinical institutions.
The two missions are closely interconnected because new technologies originate from new knowledge and discov-eries. Transforming pioneering research ideas into applicable technologies in a realistic timeframe requires a strong effort in balancing fundamental research and technology development. In order to deploy IIT’s Human-Centered Science and Technology vision, the 2018-2023 Strategic Plan defines four Research Domains (RDs) with specific scientific and technological priorities, namely: (I) Robotics, (II) Nanomaterials, (III) Technologies for Life Science, and (IV) Computational Sciences. Following on from the work done in recent years, the four RDs aim to consolidate IIT’s leading research and to identify new research and development areas worthy of investigation in the coming years. All the RDs focus on a handful of specific scientific and technological Priorities (see below), which are designed to blend curiosity-driven and technology-driven research with a strong interdisciplinary commitment.
The Strategic Plan envisages an interdisciplinary combination of research and technology that will have a positive impact on some of the twenty-first century’s most important societal challenges, namely:
❚ Sustainability and the Environment. These challenges include research in and technological progress for water cycle/water remediation, waste recovery and biodegradability, sustainable materials by design, food traceability, and smart packaging.
❚ Healthcare. These challenges include research and technologies for robotic surgery, drug delivery and diagnostics, personalized approaches to medicine with a special emphasis on RNA technologies and the genomics of repetitive elements, and the computational modeling of complex multiscale systems.
❚ Aging Society. These challenges include research and robotic technologies for disabled or elderly people, robotic assistants and companions, the investigation of neurodegenerative diseases, neuro-rehabilitation, and prosthetics (hand, retina, exoskeletons).
These challenges reflect the priorities of Horizon 2020, the current European Framework Program. They will most likely be maintained in the forthcoming 9th Framework Program (FP9). For more information, see Appendix 2.
Figure 1 schematically depicts the Strategic Plan’s architecture, highlighting the contribution of the four RDs to IIT’s twin missions and the impact of these RDs on the above-mentioned societal challenges. All RDs are expected to contribute to advancing the state of the art in their respective fields (Scientific Mission) and to developing new technologies (Technology Transfer Mission) to benefit industry and/or clinics. Their impact on the societal challenges will reflect the particular technological orientation of each RD.
IIT’s Twin Mission
6
Scientific Mission Advancing the State of the Art
Technology TransferMission
Industrial Translation
Clinical Translation
SocialChallenges
Sustainability
Healthcare
Aging Society
ROBO
TIC
S
NA
NO
MA
TERI
ALS
LIFE
TEC
H
CO
MPU
TATI
ON
AL
SCIE
NC
ES
Figure 1. Architecture of the Strategic Plan: RDs, their expected contribution to IIT’s twin mission, and their impact on societal challenges.
Research Domains (RDs) and the PrioritiesBelow, we outline the activities of the four RDs and the rationale for the selected Priorities (the extended technical description of each RD can be found in the Technical Annex). Figure 2 lists these selected Priorities.
ROBOTICS NANOMATERIALS
Mechatronics Nanomaterials for Sustainability
Soft Robotics Nanotechnologies for Human Health
Social Cognition & Human Robot Interaction Nanomaterials Energy
Biomedical Robotics Exploratory Materials Sciences
Intelligent Companion Robots
LIFETECH COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE
Neuroscience & Brain Technologies Development HPC Algorithms & Software
RNA Technologies Computational Modeling
Translational Neuroscience Machine Learning, Deep Learning & A.I.
Computer Vision
Figure 2. Strategic Plan 2018-2023: the four Research Domains (RDs) and their Priorities.
RoboticsTo date, the Robotics teams consists of 224 scientists and PhD students and 82 technicians. Among the scientists are 15 PIs and 5 ERC winners. The Robotics RD has 17 ongoing European projects, 3 recently approved European projects, and 138 patents. Robotics will continue along the successful pathway developed in the past ten years. The Robotics RD has identified 5 Priorities: Mechatronics, Social Cognition and Human Robot Interaction, and Intelligent Companion Robots which are predominantly basic-research priorities, for which IIT has already achieved international leadership with its humanoid robots, socially attuned robots, and robotic rehabilitation platforms. These activities will be further strengthened in the new 10,000 sqm facility in Genoa (S. Quirico Building), which will also host joint laboratories with companies such as Moog and IBM and with INAIL in the field of rehabilitation robotics. Important technological outcomes of these priorities will include the next-generation iCub 3.0, the updated version of the low-cost plastic robot R1, and the new HalfMan robot for applications in the fields of service robotics, human assistance, and disaster recovery, respectively. The Soft Robotics Priority originates from the pioneering work on the Plantoid robot and bioinspired technologies. A new dedicated laboratory with additional staff in the S. Quirico facility will
7
strengthen the activities of this Priority. Biomedical Robotics will be the most technology-oriented Priority, devel-oping new technologies for surgery, rehabilitation, and prosthetics in collaboration with a large research network of research hospitals. The Biomedical Robotics Priority will focus strongly on technology transfer to healthcare applica-tions. The Robotics RD and its priorities are described in more detail in Section 1 of the Technical Annex.
NanomaterialsTo date, the Nanomaterials teams include 22 PIs, 427 scientists and PhD students, and 35 technicians. Among the PIs, the Nanomaterials RD includes 9 ERC winners and the only Italian Coordinator of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Network. The Nanomaterials teams run 20 European projects, with 6 more recently approved. They have produced more than 212 patents. The Nanomaterials RD has developed innovative science and technologies in the fields of environmentally friendly materials, colloidal chemistry, 2D compounds, and novel devices for sensing and energy conversion. The Nanomaterials RD has identified 4 Priorities. The Nanomaterials for Sustainability and Nanomaterials for Energy Priorities build upon this RD’s internationally recognized activities in the field of nanocomposites, bio-degradable materials, and graphene. Some of these activities originated from and will be developed further within the framework of the European Flagship Graphene. These Priorities consist of a balanced fundamental and applied research activity that will contribute to both core missions. The Nanomaterials for Health Priority, strengthened by 3 new ERC grants, aims to develop drug carriers and high-sensitivity sensors for therapy and diagnostics. These activities will expand in collaboration with a network of research hospitals and clinical research institutes (IRCCS), which is being established under the umbrella of the Ministry of Health. In parallel with the strong applied target for healthcare, this Priority maintains a curiosity-driven balance. Finally, the Exploratory Materials Sciences Priority brings together a number of teams carrying out research in colloidal chemistry, where IIT is a world leader, together with polymer synthesis and 2D materials. This research has a strong impact on many of IIT’s other key areas, such as energy, optoelectronics, and biomedical applications. It will be further strengthened by the new laboratories for ul-tra-high-resolution microscopy, time-resolved electron microscopy, and material science under extreme conditions (temperature and pressure), which will establish new standards for investigating matter at nanoscale (propelled by a few new ERC winners). Overall, technology transfer in the Nanomaterials RD has grown remarkably in recent years. We foresee an increasing demand for IIT technologies in the fields of diagnostics and sensing, materials for packag-ing and healthcare. This is consistent with the Joint Lab initiatives established with Nikon, Novacart, Enel-Nissan, Directa Plus, Camozzi, and several research hospitals. The Nanomaterials RD and its priorities are described in more detail in Section 2 of the Technical Annex.
Technologies for Life Science (LifeTech)Contributions to this RD come from over 319 scientists and PhD students and 46 technicians. Among the scien-tists are 21 PIs with 2 ERC winners. The LifeTech RD production includes 6 European projects with 3 more recently approved, and 166 patents. Research in life sciences at IIT has evolved over the past three years. Investment in fundamental neurophysiology has been reduced, and drug development activity has been terminated. The focus is increasingly on genomics and on new technologies for healthcare. The LifeTech RD has identified 3 Priorities. The Neuroscience and Brain Technology Priority will carry out most of the fundamental research into neuroscience and cognition. It will develop new tools for brain recordings at multiscale levels. The RNA Technology Priority will im-plement new platforms for RNA-based drugs for personalized medicine, building on discoveries in the non-coding portion of the genome. Finally, the Technologies for Healthcare Priority will develop innovative technology platforms for healthcare, including sensors for detecting single biomolecule events, non-invasive devices for recording brain activity, nanoparticles for diagnosis and drug release, robots for surgery and rehabilitation, companion robots for elderly people, technologies for visually impaired people, and software and high-performance computing methods for genomics and neuroscience. The co-development of these technologies will benefit from the interdisciplinary collaboration of researchers across the RDs, with about 50 scientists from the Robotics, Nanomaterials, and Compu-tational Sciences RDs contributing to this Priority. In particular, collaborative clinical projects will be established to analyze large-scale genomic and medical data for personalized medicine, with a focus on the role of non-coding RNA and repetitive elements. A key facilitator of this Priority will be the Center for Human Technologies (CHT), currently being completed at the Erzelli campus. CHT will comprise a state-of-the-art genomic facility and IT infrastructure, laboratories dedicated to theranostic robotics and point-of-care diagnostics, and an interdisciplinary computational laboratory. As part of CHT, several initiatives are being launched with the Ministry of Health and Regione Liguria to accelerate the transfer of technologies to the clinics. These initiatives include establishing Joint Laboratories with research hospitals and clinical research institutes (IRCCS) across Italy. The LifeTech RD and its Priorities are described in more detail in Section 3 of the Technical Annex.
8
Computational SciencesThe Computational Sciences RD traces its origins back to Compunet, the theoretical network launched as part of the 2015-2017 strategic plan. Despite its young age, computational activities have grown remarkably in the last three years, with around 120 scientists and PhD students, 4 technicians, and 63 patents. The scientists include 12 PIs and 2 ERC winners. This RD has identified 4 Priorities. The Development HPC Algorithms & Software Priority will be dedicated to building computational infrastructure and internal skills in software development, with a clear focus on technology transfer and applications. The Computational Modeling Priority will encompass most of the curiosi-ty-driven research, where advanced theoretical methods will be applied transversally to problems generated by other RDs, including materials design, molecular dynamics, and quantum chemistry. The other Priorities (Machine Learn-ing, Deep Learning & AI, and Computer Vision) will develop their own fundamental research, while also supporting the activity of the Robotics, Nanomaterials, and LifeTech RDs. The transversal impact of the Computational Sciences RD on all of IIT’s scientific activities will be a major asset for IIT’s research. In the coming years, IIT will invest in this RD with a solid recruitment strategy. The Computational Sciences RD and its Priorities are described in more detail in Section 4 of the Technical Annex.
The technology transfer strategy for 2018-2023Technology transfer is IIT’s second core mission. It has grown considerably in recent years thanks to the Institute’s increasingly large intellectual property portfolio and the growing industrial collaboration network in Italy and abroad. IIT has created a network of companies that, to date, has resulted in more than 400 sponsored research agreements, a portfolio of more than 570 filed patents, 12 joint laboratories with national and international compa-nies and research institutions, and 17 start-up companies. The financial value of the patent portfolio is estimated to be around 10 M$, while the Joint Laboratories have raised more than 19 M€ in the last 5 years. In the same period, global fundraising by IIT start-ups exceeded 60 M€, while creating around 80 new jobs (see section 3 of Appendix 1, Appendix 3 and 5). On top of this, extramural funding created 350 researcher positions. Clearly, this fast growth in Technology Transfer will require strong consolidation. Technology transfer will be central to IIT’s future strategy, with a focus on two main areas:
i. Translating technologies to industry and to the production system We will continue to develop joint research programs with industry and to exploit IIT’s large patent portfolio to launch new start-ups and Joint Laboratories with national and international industries in all the research areas of the Strategic Plan;
ii. Translating technologies to healthcare and clinics We will co-design and develop technologies for healthcare, surgery, diagnostics, and therapy via joint research programs and clinical trials with clinical and medical research institutions, and via Joint Laboratories with research hospitals.
Although “hard” technologies (such as robotics and materials science) typically translate into industrial domains, applications are also emerging that transfer technology from these disciplines to therapies and rehabilitation. This is the result of strong cross-fertilization among engineering, nanotechnology, and life sciences. Clinical and healthcare translation will thus form the second area of IIT’s technology transfer strategy. The industrial network already fos-ters the transfer of research results to production. Similarly, for healthcare applications, a strong network of clinical research institutions is fundamental in order to co-design and adapt IIT’s technologies for clinical translation. This network is being built under the umbrella of different high-level bilateral agreements between IIT, Regione Liguria, and the Ministry of Health. It already includes several Joint Laboratories with clinical research institutes in the Ge-noa area and in the rest of Italy.
To develop an effective Technology Transfer strategy, IIT plans to pursue four main actions in the coming years:
i. Sponsored Research Agreements with Industries On average, IIT carries out more than 100 industrial projects every year, ranging from short-term to strategic and long-term partnerships. Starting from 2018, IIT will create an industrial robotics laboratory and a materials sci-ence laboratory to improve responsiveness to companies seeking collaborative R&D. We envisage a starting team of approximately 30 researchers and technicians, who will be funded almost entirely through external grants. In parallel, IIT has intensified its interaction with clinical research institutions, such as research hospitals and clinical research institutes (IRCCS), in order to accelerate the transfer of technologies to healthcare. The concept to be developed involves working with research hospitals to co-design, optimize, and test IIT’s technologies.
9
ii. Protection of IIT’s Intellectual Property and Licensing All the above activities have a positive impact on IIT’s Intellectual Property (IP). The patent portfolio has grown consistently in recent years, with more than 570 filed and active patents as of October 2017. These are distribut-ed as follows: Robotics (24%), Nanomaterials (37%), Technologies for Life Science (29%), Computation (11%). The value of the patent portfolio is estimated to be in the 7-12 $M range (see K http://insights.patsnap.com). Its value is steadily growing thanks to the combined effort in developing basic research, curiosity-driven pro-grams, and technology transfer programs. About 140 patents (26% of the active portfolio) have been licensed (or optioned) to companies or IIT start-ups. License revenues have increased steadily over the past five years, thanks to continuous dissemination and networking efforts with companies and investors. In the future, IIT will continue to protect new inventions internationally, while surrendering patents that have not stimulated industrial interest in the previous 5 years. In this way, we plan to keep the yearly cost of the IP portfolio below 20% of the yearly industrial fundraising (see Appendix 1 for details).
iii. Creation of Joint Laboratories Joint Laboratories are centers with ambitious mid-to-long-term industrial R&D targets developed jointly by IIT and a partner company, with a direct return on industrial production/technology. Joint teams of researchers work side by side at IIT or at the industrial partner’s production sites. IIT and companies share R&D programs, roadmaps, resources, and intellectual property resulting from Joint Laboratory activities. To date, companies that have established their Joint Laboratories on IIT sites include international market leaders, such as Nikon, Moog, and IBM, and important national companies, such as Novacart and DirectaPlus. For clinical translation, Italy’s largest national work insurance institute, INAIL, has established a largescale Joint Laboratory at IIT to translate robotic rehabilitation solutions to clinics. The INAIL Joint Laboratory will undergo further expansion at several INAIL sites in Italy. In addition, joint clinical research initiatives are starting with IRCCS G. Gaslini Children’s Hos-pital and IRCCS S. Martino Hospital in Genoa (as part of the Liguria Human Technology Hub program, sponsored by the regional government), with Fondazione Don Gnocchi in Milan, and with the IRCCS networks selected by the Ministry of Health (see Appendix 3 for details). Notably, IIT’s Joint Laboratory model is in line with several proposed directions of the EU’s 9th Framework Program (FP9), which foresees the co-participation of multiple institutions (public and private) in largescale R&D programs.
iv. Creation of start-up companies The launch of start-up companies is another key parameter for evaluating the quality of IIT’s technology transfer and, more generally, IIT’s direct impact on Italy’s GDP. As of August 2017, 17 spin-off companies base their busi-ness on IIT’s technologies (created by IIT researchers). This has resulted in the creation of more than 80 new jobs, with total funds raised from private investors exceeding €60M (see Appendix 4 for details). More than 20 new ideas are undergoing evaluation as potential businesses. Several of these projects own their success to an internal funding scheme dedicated to technology de-risking. This fund has emerged as an excellent tool for facilitating external investment, and it will be strengthened in the coming years.
Two other important technology transfer initiatives are being considered for the near future:
v. A start-up incubator at the Erzelli site (see the Section 4) Supported by a public investment fund (Invitalia) of 4.5 M€ to set up laboratories and working areas for high tech start-ups. In October 2017, Invitalia made funding and space available (1,500 sqm). The incubator will be opera-tional by the beginning of 2019;
vi. An investment vehicle to support early-stage technology ventures from IIT. This is presently under negotiation with a major private investment bank in Italy.
10
The overarching goal is to make IIT an outstanding international scientific and technological brand, whose credibility and prestige cross the borders of the research community to be recognized by the general public. Below, leadership targets are expressed as a series of commitments.
Consolidate IIT’s scientific leadership in the Research Domains of the strategic planIn terms of scientific excellence in the four RDs, IIT should close the gap with its strongest competitors, the world’s leading research institutes (e.g. MIT, Stanford, Weizmann, Oxford). State-of-the-art scientific infrastructures, trans-parent international peer-reviewed evaluations, and a high-quality international environment have positioned IIT as a place of opportunity for interdisciplinary research. It will be increasingly important for IIT to build on these assets to attract the best researchers worldwide.
Reverse brain-drain and attract top international scientists to ItalyTo ensure top-quality personnel, IIT’s main targets will be to attract new Tenure Track Scientists and winners of high-level international individual research grants (ERC, Armenise, etc.). A target for 2020 is for 50% of the PIs to be winners of an ERC grant (or similar individual grants) in the RDs identified by the Strategic Plan. To achieve this, IIT has designed a six-year Brain Magnet Program. This special fund is dedicated to attracting young researchers, who have secured an individual research grant (ERC, Armenise in the RDs of interest), and first-class senior scientists with an outstanding reputation willing to spend part of their career at IIT.
Transform research into usable technologies, ultimately creating new jobs and contributing to the gross national productAnother leadership target is to create a system to accelerate the transformation of new knowledge into new tech-nologies. This requires a strong effort to create a network of companies, end-users, and investors centered around IIT. In addition to standard collaborations with companies via sponsored research agreements, IIT plans to develop new Joint Laboratories with companies and clinical institutions (to co-design new technologies for healthcare). Technology transfer activities will be guided by the goal of growing and constantly monitoring the patent portfolio, a fundamental asset. IIT aims to increase the patent portfolio and the licensing activities so that extramural funds are at least 5 time greater than the cost of the patent portfolio, with the income from licenses being equal to around 1% of the intramural budget. Another important indicator will be the number of new jobs created by the start-ups launched by IIT researchers. Start-up companies will not directly affect IIT’s fundraising capability (apart from the limited income arising from licensing and royalties). However, a solid indicator of success will be the number of companies exploiting IIT technology in their products. In the years to come, this would create a sort of “IIT inside” brand for the Institute’s high-tech start-up companies.
IIT Leadership Targets
11
Investment in human capital, research infrastructure, and networks are the keys to achieving IIT’s strategic objec-tives. Here, we describe the enabling strategies needed to fully implement the 2018-2023 Strategic Plan.
Human Capital: recruitment strategy, international attractiveness, and high-level educationHuman capital is IIT’s most important asset. As shown in Appendix 1, there are approximately 1550 people conduct-ing research at IIT in 2017. There are around 70 principal investigators (PIs), including tenure-track or tenured scien-tists and centers’ coordinators. The PIs autonomously manage budgets, laboratories, and facilities, contributing to the global development of the Strategic Plan. Over the period 2018-2023, IIT will continue its tenure-track recruitment program to attract around 25 new PIs, and to expand the national and international network of collaborations. The Brain Magnet Program will be an important instrument in securing top-quality human capital. This program, launched in 2016, targets young recipients of individual research grants (e.g., ERC, Armenise) and outstanding senior scientists willing to spend part of their career at IIT. Crucial to the success of recruitment will be the completion of the two new large-scale facilities in Genoa by 2019, as described in the next section.
A crucial aspect of IIT’s research strategy is interdisciplinarity, implemented by fostering interactions between experts across disciplines. Currently, IIT’s scientific staff includes 21 scientific profiles, from philosophy to materials science (see Appendix 1). Interactions between scientists with different profiles has proven effective in addressing themes that demand diversified expertise. This interdisciplinarity will be strengthened in the coming years. As dis-cussed in the Technical Annex, important expansions of the competence pool might be necessary in different fields, such as of bioethics and legislation (to develop a program around the regulatory aspects of human-machine inter-actions), food technology (to develop a program around traceability and packaging), and computational science (to develop programs around machine learning/deep learning, and around bioinformatics for genomics applications). Details can be found in the description of the Research Domains given in the Technical Annex.
IIT contributes to high-level education by collaborating with Italian universities to implement PhD courses. Excellent research underpins IIT’s ability to do this successfully. In the period 2018-2020, specific actions are planned to posi-tion IIT as a place of opportunity, capable of attracting the best students worldwide. These actions include:
❚ Fostering participation in Marie Skłodowska-Curie initial training network (ITN) projects, which support joint PhD programs with European research institutions, academic institutions, and industry, guaranteeing competitive salaries for students and often resulting in dual PhD degrees;
❚ Establishing agreements with European and overseas institutions for joint co-financed PhD programs; ❚ Promoting the mobility of PhD students (as well as postdocs and researchers) by financially supporting both medium-term and long-term visits to top non-European institutions. This will be done via the novel EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) program, from which IIT has already profited in the past two years with a series of highly successful and ongoing RISE projects;
❚ Improving the number and quality of training programs for PhD students, providing a range of opportunities for students to broaden their soft, managerial, and communication skills while studying science and engineering.
Planned actions also include attracting, hiring, and training the best national and international postdoctoral can-didates. As part of this strategy, IIT will strengthen its participation in the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Individual Fellowship program. Candidates awarded a Seal of Excellence Certificate by the EU Commission (i.e., candidates whose MSCA Individual Fellowship proposals received a score of 85% or above, but that could not be funded by EU) will be considered for postdoctoral positions on internal funds. This strategy is an efficient internal mechanism for rewarding research teams that are most successful at attracting the best scientists.
Implementation of The Strategic Plan: Enabling Strategies
12
Starting in January 2018, IIT will host 24 fellows for four years within an MSCA COFUND training program to ad-vance the diagnosis, imaging, and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders (MINDED program). This is in line with IIT’s goal of developing interdisciplinary training programs that integrate science, medicine, and engineering to address human health problems.
Finally, other educational activities will involve training scientists in: (i) evaluating and managing intellectual prop-erty (IP); (ii) business modelling and business planning; (iii) the fundamentals of management and hi-tech entrepre-neurship; (iv) licensing and exploitation; and (v) pitching business ideas and developing relationships with investors. Dedicated courses have already been created in collaboration with national and international universities (University of Genoa, EPFL-CH), with global speakers from industry delivering seminars and talks. Training and education in research exploitation will also be a major training path within the MINDED training program discussed above.
Completion of the Central Research Laboratories in GenoaIIT’s organization revolves around the Central Research Laboratories (CRLs) in Genoa, and a wider network of centers based within relevant Academic Institutions in Italy and abroad. The CRLs contain most of the largescale labora-tories and facilities, and host more than 1000 people. Centers of the IIT network are smaller structures, hosting between 30 and 100 IIT people who collaborate with the staff of our partner Academic Institutions. In the next two years, IIT plans to complete the CRLs and grow its network of centers, particularly through joint initiatives with med-ical research institutions across the country.
IIT’s rapid growth in personnel and infrastructure has now filled the CRLs to maximum capacity. As of August 2017, about one-third of our staff is funded through competitive European projects or industrial contracts. This includes 43 ongoing European projects (17 in Robotics, 20 in Nanotechnology and Materials, 6 in Life Sciences) plus 13 recently approved European projects, 18 ERC winners plus several already approved, and the largescale “MINDED” Marie Skłodowska-Curie Network coordinated by IIT. In addition, the CRLs host several industrial laboratories and start-ups. This growth will likely continue steadily in the next few years, due to the increasing number of industrial partnerships, the increasing number of ERC winners joining IIT, and the international recruitment of PIs. This has resulted in the overcrowding of the CRLs and of some network centers that have been particularly successful at recruiting and fundraising (e.g. the CNST in Milan). To address the lack of laboratory and office space, IIT began an infrastructure expansion in 2013, using donations to acquire two new buildings located close to the headquarters on the west side of Genoa, and expanding the IRCCS S. Martino-IST with the Center of Synaptic Neuroscience.
The first building (named S. Quirico, see Figure 3) is located within walking distance of the CRLs. IIT acquired it in 2016 with a large contribution from the Genoa Chamber of Commerce. As of 2017, this 10,000 sqm facility is being adapted to host all of IIT’s robotics teams and the expansion of the mechanical workshop. This will allow IIT to ex-pand the robotics teams, improve the mechatronic facilities (mechanical workshop), and host the new Soft Robotics laboratory and the Joint Laboratories in the robotics area (with INAIL, Moog, and IBM). In addition, two large areas will be created for the outdoor training of robots to simulate different “in the field” environments. The Robotics Cen-ter will start its activity in the second quarter of 2018, reaching steady state by the end of 2018.
The second building in the Erzelli Science Park (see Figure 3) will be made available by the Ministry of Economic Development and Regione Liguria. It comprises the top four floors of Tower B in the Erzelli Science Park (about 7,500 sqm) in addition to the 1,500 sqm that already host IIT laboratories contributing to the Social Cognition and Human Robot Interaction Priority. The new infrastructure will accommodate most of IIT’s technical and scientific activities in Human Health, namely the Center for Human Technologies (CHT). This interdisciplinary Center will host teams with different backgrounds to achieve a multicultural synergistic approach to healthcare, including:
❚ Laboratories dedicated to Neurogenomics for understanding, diagnosing, and treating neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases;
❚ Laboratories dedicated to Theranostic Robotics i.e. robotics to treat and diagnose neurodevelopmental and neu-rodegenerative disorders;
❚ An interdisciplinary computational laboratory, bridging machine learning, big data, human machine interaction, computational life science, computational material science, and imaging;
❚ Laboratories dedicated to Point-of-Care Diagnostics for low-cost ultra-high-sensitivity molecular and enzymatic disposable diagnostics devices, which can be used for massive screening, safety, and food traceability;
❚ The supermicroscopy and imaging laboratories, together with the IIT-NIKON Joint Laboratory (Nikon Imaging Center), which will be considerably expanded on the new site.
13
The CHT will reach steady state in the first quarter of 2019.
Figure 3. Logistics development of IIT’s Central Research Laboratories. From left to right: the Erzelli building dedicated to the Center for Human Technologies, the S. Quirico building dedicated to the Robotics Center, the present Central Research Laboratory at Morego, and the Synaptic Neuroscience Center at the IRCCS S. Martino-IST.
Globally, we plan to complete the new infrastructure in Genoa by the beginning of 2019, thus greatly improving the logistics of the laboratories for our researchers. This will allow IIT to reach a personnel steady state of about 1,700 people, which is the size expected for an Institute with a yearly budget in the range of 135 M€ (including public contribution and competitive fund raising) and a full cost per capita in the range of 80 k€. As part of this plan, we will finalize the research reorganization that began in 2015, completing the following eight general service facilities, which will be available to all IIT teams (with discounted fees) and to external users (with standard fees):
❚ Mechanical Workshop and Mechatronics (located in the Robotics Center - S. Quirico); ❚ Genomics Facility (located in the Center for Human Technologies - Erzelli); ❚ Electronics Facility (located in the Center for Human Technologies - Erzelli); ❚ Electron Microscopy Facility (located in the CRLs - Morego); ❚ Materials Characterization Facility (located in the CRLs - Morego); ❚ Nanofabrication and Clean Room Facility (located in the CRLs - Morego); ❚ Pharma/Medicinal Chemistry Facility (located in the CRLs - Morego); ❚ Chemistry Facility (located in the CRLs - Morego).
14
IIT’s Network of Academic LaboratoriesThe Academic Network is central to IIT’s Strategic Plan, both in recruiting PhD students from a wider pool, and in expanding collaborations with a variety of institutions to introduce additional expertise. The list of centers estab-lished in Italy and abroad is reported in Appendix 5. In 2018-2019, we plan to launch three new joint initiatives (new names are only indicative):
❚ Center for Agro-food Technologies - Piacenza (in association with the Cattolica University): co-design of robotics technologies for precision agriculture, food traceability nanosensors, food-waste processes;
❚ Center for Technologies for Cultural Heritages - Venice (in association with the Cà Foscari University of Venice): new materials and robotic technologies for preserving, restoring, and inspecting cultural heritages;
❚ Joint Laboratory on Imaging - Torino (in collaboration with the University of Torino).
The IIT Clinical NetworkThe Clinical Network aims to create an environment where new discoveries and new knowledge can be immediately tested, applied, and evaluated for the benefit of patients. To this end, IIT is launching many bilateral collaborations with clinical research institutions, and has already proposed a handful of largescale initiatives, which will form a large national clinical network in the coming years. The main initiatives include:
❚ The Human Technopole in Milan will be Italy’s largest facility for genomics, big data, and healthcare technologies. It was designed by IIT and is currently being built on the Expo Milan site. It is likely to become an important scien-tific partner for IIT by virtue of the great complementarity between the activities of the two institutions.
❚ The Liguria Human Technology Hub will be established in partnership with Regione Liguria to co-develop and test IIT technologies in real clinical environments (i.e. by creating Joint Laboratories for clinical trial programs). The Hub involves four research hospitals (IRCCS G. Gaslini Children’s Hospital, IRCCS S. Martino-IST, Galliera Hospi-tal, Santa Corona Hospital) and one clinical institution (Istituto Chiossone) in Liguria. It implements a hub-and-spoke model to promote the sharing of data (e.g. integration of electronic medical records) and technology (e.g. genome-sequencing technologies). The main research lines will involve:
❙ Optimizing and testing IIT’s surgical robots at IRCCS S. Martino-IST and IRCCS G. Gaslini Children’s Hospital; ❙ Optimizing and testing novel nanocarriers for multifunctional drug delivery in oncology, neurological diseases,
and cardiac diseases with IRCCS S. Martino-IST, IRCCS G. Gaslini Children’s Hospital, and Galliera Hospital; ❙ Testing robotics rehabilitation systems with Santa Corona Hospital; ❙ Co-designing and testing new devices for blindness with Istituto Chiossone; ❙ Co-designing and testing humanoid robots for the rehabilitation of children with neurodevelopmental diseases
with IRCCS G. Gaslini Children’s Hospital; ❙ Developing a genomic-based personalized medicine approach to neurodevelopmental disorders by integrating
genomics and clinical data.The Liguria Human Technology Hub will be supported by Regione Liguria. It is Italy’s first example of full synergy between technology research and development and the public healthcare system. It may become a guiding example for the entire country. Scientific and technical details of the planned activities can be found in the Technical Annex.
❚ The Joint Laboratory Network involves collaborations between IIT and national clinical institutions to co-design in-novative technologies to improve human health. INAIL-IIT Rehab Technologies is one such successful partnership within this model. This Joint Laboratory was launched in 2013 by IIT and INAIL (National Institute for Work Inju-ries Insurance). Its mission is to develop and implement advanced prosthetic, orthotic, and rehabilitation devices. INAIL-IIT Rehab Technologies will significantly expand to involve additional INAIL sites in Italy (e.g. in Rome). New initiatives in the Joint Laboratory Network include:
❙ Joint Lab with Fondazione Roma to co-develop assistive robotic tools for lateral amyotrophic sclerosis patients; ❙ Joint Lab with Fondazione Don Gnocchi in Milan to co-develop companion robots for patient assistance; ❙ Clinical trials in collaboration with the University of Verona’s Surgical Ophthalmology Clinic to test the artifi-
cial retina developed by IIT;
15
❙ National agreement between IIT and the IRCCS Network, a network of research hospitals and clinical research institutes (IRCCS) overseen by the Italian Ministry of Health. In collaboration with IIT, the Network seeks to accelerate the translation, uptake, and diffusion of IIT technologies into clinics. The four national IRCCS net-works involved in this high-level agreement deal with: neurodevelopment (IRCCS IDEA, the Italian Develop-mental Age Health Network), oncology (IRCCS ACC, the Alliance Against Cancer Network), cardiology (IRCCS Cardiology Network), and neuroscience and neurorehabilitation (IRCCS Neuroscience and Neurorehabilitation Network). The Network will be the subject of a national agreement between IIT and the Ministry of Health by the end of 2017/beginning of 2018.
Outlook for IIT in the next 3 yearsIn the next three years, IIT will reach its steady state configuration as depicted in Figure 4. In 2018, the Central Research Laboratories will expand on four sites in Genoa, with five Joint Laboratories (Nikon, IBM, Moog, INAIL, Camozzi), and the four research hospitals of the Liguria Human Technology Hub. The Academic Network will expand to include new centers in Venice, Piacenza, and Turin. The Clinical Network will grow in the Milan area with the Human Technopole and Fondazione Don Gnocchi. It will expand in Budrio, Volterra, and Rome with INAIL. It will develop on a more central level in Rome with the three IRCCS Networks, and in Naples with Tigem-Telethon. Finally, the new Joint Laboratories established in the Milan area (Novacart, DirectaPlus) will become operative.
Genoa
2017
U.S. outstations
IIT network centers Clinical networkIndustrial joint labsGenoa Central Lab
Rome
Genoa
NaplesLecce
TurinMilan Venice
Trento
Pisa
Ferrara
Figure 4. IIT’s expected network, centers, and Joint Laboratories in the next three years.
16
Appendix 1: IIT Facts And Figures
IntroductionThe total expenditure of the Italian Government since the creation of IIT (from January 2004 to October 2017) amounts to approximately 830 M€. The startup phase of 36 months for the construction of the central research laboratory (CRL) of Morego started on January 2006 with the adaption/modification of the Morego building, which was completed in 2009.
The first laboratory at the central research lab was inaugurated in the middle of 2007 (Robotic Brain and Cognitive Sciences). The last laboratory of CRL Morego was inaugurated in April 2010 (Drug Discovery Development).
With the public investment of 830 M€, after one decade of actual scientific activity (from 2007 to date), IIT has accomplished the following results:
❚ Supported about 11200 years of salary for scientists, technicians and administrators (including about 2600 years of PhD salaries);
❚ Built more than 45,000 sqm of laboratories in 12 sites; ❚ Published more than 8500 papers in international journals and proceeding of international conferences with peer review;
❚ Ranked first among public Italian research institutions (ANVUR national ranking) in its research areas (second in Physical Sciences);
❚ Won more than 320 competitive grants (>150 European grants) and more than 450 industrial projects; ❚ Raised > 180 M€ funds; ❚ Got 18 ERC winners (a few others to be started in 2018); ❚ Established 11 joint laboratories with international companies; ❚ Filed > 570 patents; ❚ Created 17 spin-off.
With reference to the personnel and bibliometric data of Figure 1, IIT begins its second decade of activity with the following strengths:
❚ With 54% of staff from Italy and 46% of staff from more than 50 other countries, IIT is one of the most attractive research institutions in Italy. The proportion of scientists coming from international institutions is comparable to that for Europe’s best institutes.
❚ IIT is the youngest Institute in Italy in terms of personnel, the average age of its personnel being below 35. Such an average age has increased by less than 3% in first 10 years due to IIT’s high turnover and recruitment policy.
❚ IIT is one of the most interdisciplinary institutes in Italy, recruiting scientists with 21 different PhD profiles. This figure is comparable to that for Europe’s best institutes.
❚ IIT has a very low administration-to-research personnel ratio, with approximately 14% of personnel dedicated to administration.
❚ With 41% female staff, IIT is one of the best gender balance institutions in Italy. ❚ IIT was ranked first among public research Institutions by the national research assessment (VQR ranking 2011-2014) in Informatics/Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology/Life Sciences, Industrial Engineering, Psychology, and second in Physical Sciences. Moreover, IIT was ranked first in Technology Transfer activities.
❚ IIT has the highest patent-filing rate in Italy’s public research system.
17
Figure 1. Overview of the IIT staff, publications and citations of IIT over the years (Source Scopus-Elsevier).
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
20062007
20082009
2010 20112012
20132014
20152016
31 Augu
st 2017
*
83 186
69
299
148
459
198
590
229
686
240
774
261
930
232
86
940
234
941
212
339
Num
ber o
f pub
licat
ions
Journals Peer Rev. Congresses
Books
8569 publications 26000240002200020000180001600014000120001000080006000400020000
20062007
20082009
20102011
20122013
20142015
2016
31 Augu
st 2017
*
7 85 465 15
24
3256
5853
9822
1458
1
2005
5
2639
4
3204
1
2449
6
Num
ber o
f cita
tions
PhD Students
Scientific Staff
AdministrativeStaff
InfrastructureTechnicians
Research Support
Lab Technicians
29
41
11.5
3.5
3.511.5
as a %
Principal Investigators
Researchers/Technologists
Post Doc/Fellows
Ph.D StudentsFellows*
41.3%
41%
11%
6.7%
* Ph.D. to be obtained
1,600
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
0
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2017
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
31 Aug
ust 2
017
172
307
465
749
909
1141
1252
1443
1474
1568
1520
Robotics 8
Biochemistry 2
Biology 9
Biophysics/Bioinformatic 2
Biotech 3
Chemistry 9
Electronics 1Engineering 16
Geology 0
IT 4
MaterialsScience 5
Math 1MD 2
Mechanics 0
MolecularBiology 5
Nanosciences 2
Nanotechnologies 2
Neurosciences 6Pharmacology 4 Other 1
❚ 1520 people ❚ Average age 35 yearsFemale/Male Gender Ratio 41/59 ❚ Scientific + Technical Staff + PhD Students: 82% ❚ Overall, staff from more than 55 countries
18
Fund RaisingAs shown on Table 1, fund raising performance is strongly dependent on the research domain.
Research Domain Em/Im
Robotics 125%
Nanomaterials 41%
Lifetech 22%
Computation 13%
Table 1. Ratio of Extramural (EM) vs Intramural (IM) funding for the four research domains (data referred to 2016).
Figure 2 displays the independent financial resources from fund-raising activities since 2006. These resources, which amount to 183,3 M€, are broken down as follows: Competitive Projects (e.g., European competitive Projects, 130,7 M€), Industrial Projects (41,6 M€), In-kind Projects (e.g., equipment, 11,0 M€).
180M
160M
140M
120M
100M
80M
60M
40M
20M
02009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 August 2017
41.2
47.9
85
57.9
62.2
14
79.7
99.5
36
93.9
20.3
61
107.
116.
464
122.
500
34.5
00
130.
700
41.6
00
Figure 2. Fund raising trend of IIT since 2006. Blue: Competitive Projects, Grey: Industrial Projects, Red: In-kind.
Technology TransferSponsored Research Agreements and Industrial Collaborations As shown in Table 2, industrial collaborations have been growing constantly over the last years.
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Commercial Agreements * 78 48 67 117 152
Non-Disclosure Agreements 39 85 125 218 254
Inter-Institutional Agreements 8 10 11 13 16
IP consulting 12 31 38 65 85
TOT 137 174 241 413 507
+27% +39% +71% +22%
Table 2. Technology Transfer activities in the last 5 years. * includes research contracts, joint labs, licenses.
Sponsored research agreements in the last 2 years (2015-to date) have involved more than 150 companies. The top 48 contracts (investment > 100 K€) involve 62% Italian companies and 38% foreign companies, as shown in Figure 3.
19
IIT industrial Network 2015-201748 companies (62% Italian, 38% foreign)
Figure 3. IIT’s network of industrial collaborations in 2015-2017. Only the top 48 programs are indicated. Foreign companies are involved in 38% of the research collaborations.
Patents and Licensing The patent portfolio of IIT has grown exponentially since the startup phase. To date, IIT owns a portfolio of more than 570 patents as shown in Figure 4.
Portfolio (October 11, 2017)
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 201 1 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
2 2 6 8 14 19 26 34
43 63 67 109
100
170
124
242
147
313
172
380
193
479
213
573
Invention Portfolio Patent Portfolio with EP Validation
Figure 4. The IP Portfolio (October 2017) of IIT includes 573 patents applications (45% of the applications already granted).
20
The contribution of the four Research Domains of the strategic plan to the IP portfolio is shown in Figure 5.
Application portfolio by platform (October 11, 2017)
Materials andNanotechnolgies 37
Computation 11
Life Sciences 29
Robotics 24
Figure 5. IP originated by the four research domains (data @October 2017): Nanomaterials 37% (212), Robotics 24% (138), Technologies for Life Science 29% (166), Computational Sciences 11% (63).
Figure 6 compares the number of patents filed by IIT with those filed by Italy’s top five public research institutions and with the average of the public research institutions in Italy (source Netval).
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Netval first filings Netval first filings (top5) IIT first filings
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
240
260
0
17
34
51
68
85
102
118
135
152
169
186
203
220
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
volu
me
di e
ntra
te II
T
volu
me
med
io e
ntra
ta T
op 5
NET
VAL
Volume di entrate IIT Volume medio entrata Top 5 NETVAL
Figure 6. Comparison of the first filing of IIT (red) with Italy’s top five public institutions (black) and with the average of public
institutions in Italy (blue).
Figure 7. IIT revenues from licenses (red) compared to the aver-age for Italy’s top five public institutions (Source: Netval).
Figure 7 displays the comparison between IIT revenues and those of Italy’s top five public research institutions. The strong increase in revenues is a positive indicator. A target for coming years is to reach the values of top internation-al institutions (around 1% of the yearly budget).
FIRST FILING - Netval Report
21
The estimated value of the IIT Patent PortfolioDespite the value of Patent Portfolio provides an important KPI, the use of objective indicators to determine the val-ue of IP assets is still limited. Patsnap K http://www.patsnap.com uses an indicator-based patent valuation system that is based on the analysis of a patent families using a set of 25 objective value indicators (e.g. forward- and back-ward-citations, patent family sizes, geographical coverage, patent age, legal status etc.) and adjusts the calculated patent value based on empirical data of historical patent transactions.
Since the methodology utilizes objective indicators for patent evaluation, the method provides a reliable estimate of the patent values. The robustness of the method has been tested by a full FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis), according to the QS9000 standard.
The IIT Portfolio Value estimated by Patsnap turns out to be:
Total Value (Average) Min Total Value Max Total Value
8,469,000 ($USD) 6,128,000 ($USD) 10,811,000 ($USD)
The top-10 valuable patents of IIT are listed in Table 3.
International Application
Description Research Domain Value (USD)
WO 2012/085879 A Process For Providing Hydrorepellent Properties To A Fibrous Material And Thereby Obtained Hydrophobic Materials
RD Nanomaterials $661,000
WO 2012/085879 A Process For Providing Hydrorepellent Properties To A Fibrous Material And Thereby Obtained Hydrophobic Materials
RD Nanomaterials $633,000
WO 2011/121519 Technique For Stabilizing Solutions Of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles In Acrylate Polymers By Means Of Short-Pulsed UV Laser Irradiation
RD Nanomaterials $573,000
WO 2012/004738 Technique For Stabilizing Solutions Of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles In Acrylate Polymers By Means Of Short-Pulsed UV Laser Irradiation
RD Nanomaterials $504,000
WO 2012/038931 Stiffness Adjustable Rotary Joint RD Robotics $457,000
WO 2014/001843 Tactile Control Arrangement For Electrical Or Electronic Devices Integrated In A Textile Suppor
RD Nanomaterials & Robotics
$420,000
WO 2012/077043 A Method Of Synthesizing Branched Gold Nanoparticles Having Controlled Size And Branching
RD Nanomaterials $377,000
WO 2010/057652 Nanowires On Substrate Surfaces, Method For Producing Same And Use Thereof
RD Nanomaterials $287,000
WO 2009/060366 Tactile Sensor Arrangement And Corresponding Sensory System
RD Robotics $273,000
WO 2009/013705 Device For Controlling Fluid Motion Into Micro/Nanochannels By Means Of Surface Acoustic Waves
RD Nanomaterials $256,000
Table 3. Top market value patents of IIT. Source: Patsnap (data as of October 2017 K http://www.patsnap.com)
22
Appendix 2: European Community Funding SchemeThe current EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, Horizon 2020, will run until the end of 2020. Discussions and preparations for the 9th Framework Program (FP9), most likely to cover the period 2021 - 2027, have already begun. Building on the interim evaluation of H2020, recommendations have been formulated to im-prove the impact of FP9 funding. In the following, we briefly discuss the recommendations that appear more relevant to IIT’s strategy. Key actions, as described in the Strategic Plan, are identified for each pillar of the possible scheme for FP9 (Fig.8).
Possibile Scheme for FP9
Excellent Science Industrial Leadership Societal Challenges
LAB FAB APP
Horizon2020
FP9
ERC
MSCA
Res Infrastructure
EIC
Fast track to innovation
Prizes
SME Instruments
Access to Risk Finance
Transnational cooperation
Joint ProgrammingFuture and Emerging Technologies
Open Science
Open to the World
Open Innovation
LAB
Figure 8. Schematic representation of the evolution of Horizon2020 funding scheme into the expected FP9 funding scheme. ERC: European Research Council, MSCA: Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, EIC: Energy Industry Council, FTI: Fast Track to Innovation.
LAB: research As shown by the interim evaluation of Horizon 2020, the ERC has become a global beacon of scientific excellence. It is recommended1,2 that FP9 ensure the continuity of ERC program, possibly enhancing the program’s operational freedom and budget. Continuity is also recommended for MSCA.
The planned IIT’s Action in the LAB scheme are: ❚ Reinforce the attractiveness for ERC winners - Brain Magnet Program; ❚ Stimulate application to ERC Synergy grants to promote interdisciplinarity; ❚ Support ERC Proof-of-concept proposals with the potential of bridging the gap between fundamental research and pre-commercialization;
❚ Increase effort to support (e.g. MINDED project3), track and evaluate (e.g. Alumni program) researchers’ early career development and training.
1 Draft report on the assessment of Horizon 2020 implementation in view of its interim evaluation and the Framework Pro-gramme 9 proposal (2016/2147(INI)), European Parliament. March 6th, 2017
2 LAB - FAB - APP: Investing in the European future we want. High Level Group on maximising impact of EU Research and Inno-vation Programmes. July 3rd, 2017
3 Schematic representation of the evolution of Horizon2020 funding scheme into the expected FP9 funding scheme. ERC: Euro-pean Research Council, MSCA: Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, EIC: Energy Industry Council, FTI: Fast Track to Innovation.
23
FAB: competitive fabricationBuild a true innovation policy that creates future markets is recognized as a key priority for FP92. The proposed European Innovation Council (EIC) is intended as a permanent driver for investments in high-risk projects with rapid scale-up potential at the cross-roads of different technologies and disciplines. The installation of the EIC, with higher emphasis to Fast Track to Innovation (FTI) and SME instrument, is expected to provide renewed impetus for improv-ing framework condition in support of innovation.
The planned IIT’s Action in the FAB scheme are:
❚ Reinforce IIT network of industrial collaborations; ❚ Assemble a collaborative network of university hospitals and clinical research institutes (IRCCS); ❚ Consolidate dedicated training and education for scientists in research exploitation; ❚ Establish a start-up incubator and a new investment vehicle from Italian private banks; ❚ Recruit an Innovation Officer fully dedicated to business and exploitation plans of Institutional projects.
APP: application for the benefit of allOne challenge set to face FP9 is the translation of global societal challenges (social, economic, environmental) into a limited number of large-scale research and innovation missions², 3. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are indicated as a global reference framework for defining Europe’s R&I missions. Missions defined in this way should have a break-through or transformative potential for science, technology, industry or society and should mobilize joint investment by partnerships (public-private and public-public) with industry, foundations and public authorities.
The planned IIT’s Action in the APP scheme are:
❚ Create Joint Labs with Corporations and Clinical Institutions to co-design/co-develop technologies; ❚ Set-up the Center for Human Technologies (CHT), a new comprehensive and cross-disciplinary infrastructure for human centered R&I;
❚ Establish an EU Liaison Office in Bruxelles as a source of early information to strengthen IIT participation to EU Framework Programs and involvement in EU policy-making;
❚ Take forward IIT contribution to European Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) also through active memberships in Contractual PPPs (cPPPs);
❚ Establish academic partnership with educational and research institutions to integrate Social Sciences and Hu-manities in research and technology development.
Three O’s: Open Science, Open Innovation, Open to the WorldOpen Science, Open Innovation and Open to the World - the so-called 3 O’s - are likely to impact European Innova-tion performance. The RISE group identifies a number of actions to foster public accessibility of scientific communi-cation, public reusability of scientific data, and openness in the context of innovation4. RISE experts also formulate some overarching policy options concerning the global challenges confronting the world as a whole and identify a limited number of tools that could help the EU to develop a more active and effective approach to these challenges (e.g. S&T Cooperation agreements)4.
The planned IIT’s Action in the 3Os scheme are:
❚ Appoint a Research Data Manager to map IIT data and set up Open Data practices and infrastructures; ❚ Establish an IIT Open Access repository for scholarly publications to incentive the Green Open Access Model; ❚ Implement an Open Science training program for researchers; ❚ Develop a communication plan to translate the results, innovation aspects and implications of Institutional proj-ects into information that is understandable to the public at large and to policy makers.
3 BOHEMIA New Horizons: Future Scenarios for Research and Innovation Policies in Europe. Directorate-General for Research and Innovation - European Commission. May 16th, 2017
4 Europe’s future: Open Innovation, Open Science, Open to the World. Research, Innovation, and Science Policy Experts” (RISE) High Level Group. May 15th, 2017
24
Appendix 3: Joint Labs with Industries and Clinical Institutions1. IIT-INAIL: Created in Genoa in 2013 in an agreement between IIT Rehab Technologies and INAIL to develop and
implement new prosthetic, orthotic, and rehabilitation devices with a high technological impact. In 2017, the IIIT-INAIIL joint lab was extended to include INAIL’s Rome site.
2. IIT-MOOG: Created in Genoa in 2016 to focus on precision control systems, next-generation actuators, and control technologies. IIT and Moog will develop the technologies required to push autonomous robots into real-world applications and the marketplace.
3. IIT-IBM: Created in Genoa in 2017 to create AI application software to operate the plastic robotic R1 platform smoothly in everyday scenarios such as medical/hospital help, information provision in shopping malls or air-ports, and home assistance.
4. IIT-NOVACART: Created in Lecco (at the Novacart production site) in 2016 to develop novel cellulose-based substrates and to produce biocompatible/biodegradable food-grade containers with enhanced performance.
5. IIT-DIRECTAPLUS: Created in Genoa in 2017 to improve the performance of Grafysorber®, developed by Directa-plus, in applications related to water-oil separation, including oil spill clean-up and separation of oil from indus-trial wastewater.
6. IIT-NIKON: Created in Genoa in 2014, the Nikon Imaging Centre at IIT (NIC@IIT) is a core facility for light mi-croscopy. NIC@IIT addresses the needs of a wide community of scientists and professionals on an international level.
7. IIT-CRESTOPTICS: Created in Rome (IIT center CLNS) in 2014 to develop new microscopy techniques.
8. IIT-FONDAZIONE DON GNOCCHI: Created in Milan in 2017 to test companion robots with patients and other robotic solutions for rehabilitation.
9. IIT-CAMOZZI: Created in Genoa in 2017 to develop actuations systems and materials for robotics and advanced manufacturing
10. LIGURIA HUMAN TECHNOLOGY HUB: To be established with research hospitals and clinical research institutes in the Liguria region. This initiative, launched in response to Regione Liguria’s Growth Act, is designed to acceler-ate the transfer of IIT technologies to the clinics.
11. JOINT LAB CATTOLICA: To be created in Piacenza to test IIT’s point-of-care technologies and its robotics tech-nologies in the domains of food and agriculture.
The joint laboratories involve around 100 people and a global fund-raising activity of about 19 M€ cash and 8.7 M€ in kind in about 5 years.
25
Appendix 4: Start Up CompaniesIIT has generated 17 startup companies in the last 5 years and about 20 startup ideas are currently under due dili-gence. The first 3 IIT startup companies were launched in 2011, becoming 5 in 2012, 9 in 2014, 11 in 2015, 16 in 2016 and 17 in 2017. Noteworthy, the entrepreneurial attitude of the young IIT scientists is uniformly distributed in all centers of the IIT network, as shown in Figure 9.
IIT@PoliTo (Torino)MorecognitionPolìpoPolitronicaReHand Technologies
IIT@Genova3BrainAbbi KITAdvanced MicroturbinesArtificial RetinaAWorldBeDimensionalBiki TechnologiesCircle GarageDualCamGenoa InstrumentsGlassenseiCub HouseMagnoTreatMovendo TechnologyNanochromeNeoKera PharmaceuticalsNeuroceuticalsQBRoboticsSmartMicroOpticsTREEUackViBeWearfortWristbot
IIT@PoliMi (Milano)FLEEPRibes Tech
IIT@SEMM (Milano)Genomic Data Software
IIT@SSSA (Pisa)Sensing Electromagnetic Plus
IIT@CRIB (Napoli)FitNesHistósKymeMINEMirTEc
IIT@UniLe (Leece)FluctomationHiQ-NanoOptogenixPiezoskin
Figure 9. Start-up already incorporated and startup ideas in due diligence in the entire IIT network.
The 17 start-ups, which have been already incorporated, originate from all the four research domains, spanning from computational models for drug design (Biki Technology) to robotic rehabilitation (Movendo Tecnologies). Figure 10 shows the application domains of the startup companies which were in most cases generated by post doc or junior students during their work at IIT.
26
CleanTech & Energy
Industrial Computation
Life Sciences
���������������������
Figure 10. Application fields of the IIT start-up companies.
Table 4 summarizes the main financial information of the IIT startup up to the beginning of 2017. About 80 new jobs have been created. Global fund raising by investors amounts to approximately 63 M€. 11 licensing contracts have been signed with IIT.
Company Name Incorporation Date Headquarters Staff Licenses
3BRAIN Gmbh 17 February 2011 Waedenswill, Switzerland 3 2
Advanced Microturbines Srl 26 April 2013 Genoa, Italy 2 1
BeDimensional Srl 08 March 2016 @IIT Genoa, Italy 2 1
BiKi Technologies Srl 07 May 2014 @IIT Genoa, Italy 1 0
Circle Garage Srl 20 May 2013 Genoa, Italy 5 0
HiQ-Nano Srl 01 March 2014 @IIT Lecce, Italy 3 1
Morecognition Srl 28 December 2016 Turin, Italy 3 0
Movendo Technology Srl 13 October 2016 @IIT Genoa, Italy 25 1
Neokera Pharmaceutical LLC/ Thesan Pharmaceuticals
01 June 2015 California, USA 0 2
OptogeniX Srl 23 July 2014 @IIT Lecce, Italy 6 0
Piezoskin Srl 12 October 2015 @IIT Lecce, Italy 2 0
Polipo Srl 11 October 2016 Fossano, Turin, Italy 4 0
Politronica Inkjet Printing Srl 08 July 2008 Turin, Italy 3 0
QBRobotics Srl 11 October 2011 Navacchio, Pisa 7 0
Ribes Tech Srl 04 March 2016 @IIT Milan, Italy 4 1
Sensing Electromagnetic Plus Corp. 01 May 2013 California, USA 6 1
SmartMicroOptics Srl 08 February 2016 Genoa, Italy 4 1
Total 80 11
27
Appendix 5: The Academic NetworkTo date, IIT has established ten Centers in Italian Universities and two outstations abroad. The Centers are IIT infra-structures either built inside Universities or located in independent buildings close to the Universities. They are run by IIT personnel with IIT budgets and rules, and supervised by the Scientific Technical Committee. Each Center is led by an IIT coordinator. Recently, new tenure-track appointments have been launched in some Centers to strength-en their structure. IIT will continue this strategy in the next few years to bring the network into a stable and solid configuration. Scientific staff of the hosting/companion University can associate with the IIT research programs to enhance the inter-institutional collaborations and to favor the PhD training.
To date, the following centers form the IIT Academic Network in Italy and abroad:
CSFT - Center for Sustainable Future Technologies - Turin (in association with the Polytechnic University of Turin)Studying and developing low-carbon processes and technologies, sustainable materials, and energy storage.
CNST - Center for Nanoscience and Technologies - Milan (in association with the Polytechnic University of Milan)Materials science and nanotechnologies, printable electronics, advanced photovoltaic devices, soft materials.
CGS - Center for Genomic Sciences - Milan (in association with IEO - the European Institute of Oncology and IFOM - the FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology)Genomic studies in oncology and bioinformatics.
CNCS - Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems - Trento (in association with the University of Trento)Functional NMR imaging, vision and brain algorithms.
CTNSC - Center for Translational Neurophysiology of Speech and Communication - Ferrara (in association with the University of Ferrara)Speech & communication, natural-language processing, neurotechnologies for human brain interfaces.
CNI - Center for Nanotechnology Innovation - Pisa (in association with Scuola Normale Superiore)Graphene and two-dimensional materials, structural studies of organic and inorganic materials.
CMBR -Center for MicroBioRobotics - Pontedera (in association with Scuola Superiore S. Anna)Soft robotics and responsive materials.
CLNS - Center for Life Nanoscience - Rome (in association with the Sapienza University of Rome)Imaging, biophysics, and genomics.
CABHC - Center for Advanced Biomaterials and Healthcare - Naples (in association with the University of Naples Federico II)Tissue engineering, cell-instructive materials, bionanotechnologies.
CBN - Center for Biomolecular Nanotechnologies - Lecce (in association with the University of Salento)Nanotechnologies for energy harvesting, wearable sensors, nanodevices for optogenetics, and nanostructure modeling.
CNB - Center for Nanotech for Brain - Boston, USA (in association with Harvard Medical School)Neurobiology and in vivo optogenetics based on IIT technologies.
CCSL - Center for Computational and Statistical Learning - Cambridge, USA (in association with MIT)Machine-learning models and algorithms.
28
Appendix 6: Acronyms
2D Bidimensional materials
AD Alzheimer’s Disease
AI Artificial Intelligence
CABHC Center for Advanced Biomaterials and Healthcare - Naples
CBN Center for Biomolecular Nanotechnologies - Lecce
CCSL Center for Computational and Statistical Learning - Cambridge (USA)
CGS Center for Genomic Sciences - Milan
CHT Center for Human Technologies
CLNS Center for Life NanoScience - Rome
CMBR Center for MicroBioRobotics - Pontedera (PI)
CNB Center for Nanotech for Brain - Boston (USA)
CNCS Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems - Trento
CNI Center for Nanotechnology Innovation - Pisa
CNST Center for NanoScience and Technology - Milan
COMPUNET Computational Sciences
CRL Central Research Laboratory - Genoa
CSFT Center for Sustainable Future Technologies - Turin
CTNSC Center for Translational Neurophysiology of Speech and Communication - Ferrara
D3 Drug Discovery and Development ((grouping IIT pharmachem research lines)
EIC European Industrial Council
EM Electron Microscopy
ERC European Research Council
EU European Union
HPC High Performance Computing
IEO Istituto Europeo di Oncologia
IFOM Istituto FIRC di Oncologia Molecolare
INAILIstituto Nazionale per l’Assicurazione contro gli Infortuni sul Lavoro (National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work)
IP Intellectual Property
IRCCS Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (Scientific Institutes for Research and Care)
LIFETECH Technologies for Life Science
Moog@IIT IIT-Moog joint laboratory
MSCA Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
NANOMATERIALS Nanotechnology and Materials
NIC@IIT IIT-Nikon joint laboratory
NMR Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
NSYN@Unige Center for Synaptic Neuroscience - Genoa
PI Principal Investigator
RD Research Domain
TT Technology Transfer
Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia
Genova CRL Via Morego, 30 - 16163
Rome Office Via Guidubaldo del Monte, 54
00197
Tel. 010 71781 Fax. 010 720321
www.iit.it
