Both courses have a limit of 40 participants each, just in order to ensure an informal and interactive environment.

This Fundamentals course aims at people who are recently new in the profession (for between six months and two years) - long enough to have taken on a few cases, have encountered difficulties and realize that they need to do some training! This three-day programme covers most of the things that a technology transfer needs know and be able to do including:

·         Finding and appraising new technologies within the university (encouraging disclosures and deciding when you should patent)
·         The patent process & minimising costs
·         What industry actually wants in terms of new technologies - what turns them on and what turns them off
·         Marketing and finding licensees
·         Contract law as it relates to IP (recognising the differing legislative environments within Europe)
·         Structuring, negotiating and doing deals with licensees  

The Building and Financing Spinouts course aims at the major routes to commercialisation of university research results, spinout companies. This intensive and highly interactive course has been designed to chart the process from the beginning, when the decision whether to spin out is made, through forming the company and raising capital.  The course outlines the factors to look out for before committing to a spinout, such as patent ownership and sponsor obligations, and includes seminars and case studies on the business and financial issues to be considered, including: 
 

•  The writing of business plans and how to use them to raise finance
• The creating of investment proposals
• Financial planning and strategy
• The legal issues involved, including IP agreements
• Building an effective and sustainable management team