IP4OS Multi-Professional Teams

Effective management of Intellectual Property (IP) is crucial for unlocking the potential of research knowledge in today’s collaborative and data-driven research ecosystem. The Horizon Europe project IP4OS (2025-2026) empowers researchers and their organisations to identify optimal strategies to maximise the utility, impact, and reach of their research outputs (valorisation of research knowledge). To achieve this, the IP4OS project explores and emphasises synergies between agile IP management and Open Science (OS) practices to enhance collaboration and foster sustainable innovation through (effective) sharing and circulating research knowledge, establishing FAIR principles and appropriate IP protection. 

 

With the IP4OS capacity building and training programme, researchers and organisations are equipped with knowledge to advocate for IP complementing OS and with skills to determine which research artefacts will be created in the course and at the end of the project, why and how they can best be protected or released for re-use, be it through a patent application, open data/information commercialisation, application of copyright, secondary publication rights, open science collaborations, and further licences, etc.

 

 

 

The landscape of IP rights and OS practices is dynamic and often not fully definable, relying heavily on the expertise of professionals across various fields of knowledge creation and dissemination. To address this, the project aims to establish multi-professional teams within research-performing organisations (RPOs) across all European member states. These teams will be equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to provide consultations to researchers, focusing on the synergistic application of IP rights and OS practices.

 

These teams empower researchers within their organisations to identify their research artefacts and make informed, strategic decisions on best exploiting and disseminating their work throughout the research cycle, ultimately creating societal, environmental, and economic value. Operating as independent, established committees within the organisation, they bring together a diverse range of expertise from the following fields:

 

Open Science Ambassador	Advocate for open and accessible (adequate) scientific practices, educate on OS principles, and ensure these are integrated into the team's work. Promote collaboration, transparency and open sharing of research artefacts (data/protocols/methods/publications, etc.) and provide expertise on open licensing and institutional OS commitments. They follow the research organisation's and/or funder's guidelines and strive to change entrenched practices and mindsets in relation to data sharing.
Knowledge Technology Transfer professional (KTT)	Promoting the transfer of knowledge and technology between science, industry and society by harmonising research results with the needs of the market and society and identifying IP rights that can be both protected and made openly accessible.
Research Manager	Oversee projects and consider long-term impact of research (esp. a focused IP-OS approach) by aligning project outcomes with the organisation's strategic goals. Project managers ensure the support between IP management and OS practices and promote project success through effective resource and risk management. They consider legal, ethical and financial risks of IP-OS strategies and support collaboration with external stakeholders (industry/academia).
Librarian	Informing about open licences, identifying which research artefacts or results are suitable for publication under open access/open licences and why, and helping to answer questions such as ‘What licensing models are available? Which open content licences are possible for scientific artefacts and results? How can Open Content-licensed materials be used? What does open access mean, and what are the advantages of open access publication? What services and infrastructures does the organisation and country (for example, secondary publication rights) offer for the publication of scientific contributions/works? Which repositories are available for sustainable use even after the end of the project?
Data Steward	Ensure data quality management by promoting the improvement of data usability and accessibility while ensuring compliance with standards. They ensure a balance between data security and openness, particularly compatibility with OS objectives, and monitor data compliance with the FAIR principles.
	INTERACTING WITH RESEARCHERS WHO REQUEST A CONSULTATION
Researcher (advisee)	Request consultation with the team on best strategies to maximise the utility, impact and reach of their research findings/artefacts (valorisation of research knowledge). Provide the team with initial information about their research project (via a registration form): Topic, discipline, possible involvement of an (international) consortium with different claims, possible research artefacts/results and intentions regarding intellectual property protection and openness.

The team composition can remain flexible and adapt to institutional needs and opportunities. Expertise can be consolidated among individuals, and there is no fixed requirement to include all six personas for each consultation. However, it is essential to cover expertise in both Intellectual Property IP and OS. An OS Ambassador is a mandatory member of the team, while additional expertise may be necessary for specific project configurations (e.g. lawyer, ethicist, etc.). The core idea is to foster closer collaboration across key roles involved in the IP–Open Science interface.

 

Working methods of a multi-professional team:

To support the teams, IP4OS will provide

• a framework with recommendations and best practices for a synergetic application of IP and OS (Synergy Framework)
• innovative training programmes (Synergy Core Curriculum)
• conduct training for teams and individuals (Training Centre)
• template of a registration form to be used by researchers in order to provide initial information about their project, possible research artefacts and intentions regarding IP rights and openness/reuse

However, individual advice (on specific research projects) is based on the team's knowledge, which matures in the dialogue between the various experts into the best possible synergetic approach to IP rights and OS practices.

The consultation situation depends on the institution and resources and can vary between individual, asynchronous, collaborative, punctual or regular consultations.

 

Benefits for team members and organisations from the IP4OS strategy

Build Expertise: Experts will deepen their knowledge through further training and consulting practice, and even steer it in a new direction that will allow them to effectively find concise locations and opportunities for IP-OS synergy in the future. In this way, they respond to many of the requirements of the European Research Area and place themselves and their organisation at the centre of current research practice with innovative expertise. Moreover, they will leverage cutting-edge knowledge from the IP4OS project to ensure their institution stays ahead in enabling transdisciplinary and cross-sector knowledge circulation.

Boost Visibility: RPOs will gain recognition as pioneers of highly effective research and valorisation practices that meet the demands of our data-driven and dynamic times. They will be featured at the IP4OS Summit in Brussels 2026 (at the European Parliament, TBD).

Contribute to Knowledge Base: The knowledge gained in the consultations will be used to create an EU-wide database (anonymised cases on the EU valorisation platform). 

If you are an RPO interested in establishing a multi-professional team, please contact Marie Alavi (marie.alavi@email.uni-kiel.de).