IP Insights and Innovation Culture: Highlights from the EIT HEI Co-Creation Workshop

On 31 March 2026, the EIT Higher Education Initiative hosted the online Co-creation Workshop “IP Insights and Best Practices from Phase 1”, bringing together Cohort 4 projects to exchange practical experience in intellectual property (IP) strategies and innovation management. The workshop highlighted the importance of integrating IP considerations early in the research process to strengthen impact and support long-term innovation capacity within higher education institutions.

The InnovPrecMed project was actively represented by its Project Lead, Prof. Andrew David Miller from Mendel University in Brno, who contributed to the discussion by sharing hands-on experience from the project’s first phase.

In his presentation, Prof. Miller demonstrated how IP protection can be effectively embedded into early-stage Deep Tech Precision Medicine research. He presented two key IPR outcomes achieved within Phase 1: a PCT application for a diagnostic method and a European patent application for lipid nanoparticles. Both results emerged from multi-partner collaboration and were filed at low technology readiness levels, underlining the importance of early protection for future commercialization, including start-ups, spin-offs, and industry partnerships.

The presentation also reflected on the initial situation within the consortium, where awareness of commercialization pathways was limited and research activities were primarily focused on publications. Through the InnovPrecMed project, partners have gradually strengthened their approach by prioritising IP from the outset, increasing the involvement of technology transfer offices, and encouraging a “learning by doing” approach through real patent applications.

A key message emphasised during the workshop was that building an effective IP culture is a gradual process requiring continuous dialogue between researchers and technology transfer professionals. Prof. Miller also highlighted the importance of addressing IP ownership early within project consortia and of integrating IP strategy as a core component of innovation activities rather than treating it as a purely administrative task.

The workshop as a whole demonstrated how knowledge sharing within the EIT HEI community contributes to strengthening innovation ecosystems across Europe. For InnovPrecMed, participation in the workshop was both valuable and inspiring, providing an opportunity to share experience while also gaining new insights from peer projects.