IP4OS Toolbox: Guide on Multi-professional Teams and Consultations

About

Europe’s Research & Innovation potential is central to driving societal progress, environmental solutions and economic growth and advancing the green and digital transitions. To realise this potential, stakeholders in research and knowledge transfer must develop robust and effective Research Knowledge Valorisation Strategies that foster the circulation and re-use of research outputs while ensuring appropriate regulation through Intellectual Property rights.

Addressing the European Research Area Policy Agendas (2022–2024 and 2025–2027), the Horizon Europe project IP4OS (2025–2026) provides practical guidance for an effective Valorisation approach that combines agile Intellectual Property management with the sharing of Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable (FAIR) research outputs (data, results, codes, etc.)—a concerted Intellectual Property–Open Science approach.

Throughout the project, innovative guidance has been developed in the form of the IP4OS Toolbox, supporting European multi-professional teams (p. 1-4), researchers, Open Science Ambassadors, Knowledge & Technology Transfer Professionals, Librarians, Research Managers, Data Stewards et al., and institutions in achieving impact and value creation.

This Guide on Multi-Professional Teams and Consultations, part of the IP4OS Toolbox, provides practical guidance on the establishment and working mode of multi-professional teams. Within the IP4OS capacity-building programme in 2026, such teams have been established across all 27 European Member States. Their purpose is to act as consultation bodies within institutions, offering fit-for-purpose support to the institution's researchers on appropriate Research Valorisation strategies that leverage regulatory Intellectual Property management and Open Science practices and—where appropriate—bring these approaches into a mutually supportive interplay.

This publication compiles the following resources:

• A Guide to Establishing Multi-Professional Teams for Research Knowledge Valorisation, describing the process of establishment and requirements to a team
• First pilot of a Multi-Professional Team, describing the first steps of Europe's pilot at Kiel University
• A Guide for Consultations offering a structured guidance of the consultation process

Outcome

Current and future multi-professional teams can use these materials to support effective consultation activities within their institutions. In doing so, they are empowered to act as multipliers, training additional individuals in a concerted Intellectual Property–Open Science approach. Collectively, these teams form an innovative Community of Practice that supports a research culture change in Research Knowledge Valorisation, fostering impact and value creation through appropriate regulation and knowledge circulation, guided by the principle “as open as possible, as closed as necessary.”

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Other materials from the IP4OS Toolbox

• IP4OS Toolbox: Knowledge Valorisation Rubric
• IP4OS Toolbox: FAIR-R²L Rubric
• IP4OS Toolbox: Valorisation Consultancy Form
• IP4OS Toolbox: Concepts, Valorisation Pathway, and Resources for IP and OS
• IP4OS Toolbox: Pilot Learning Lab