Deadline: 16 June 2020
The EPO is pleased to announce a new call for proposals for funding under its Academic Research Programme.
The European Patent Office (EPO) recognises the importance of high-quality research on patent-related intellectual property (IP) matters to inform policymakers and facilitate sound business decisions in a context where intangible assets, innovation and IP rights have become pivotal in the economy. With this research programme, the EPO seeks in particular to encourage more academic research on the role of patents in the European economy and to promote the dissemination of research results.
EPO offers
- The EPO Academic Research Programme (EPO ARP) provides financial support for rigorous research projects that set out to produce empirical evidence with relevant implications for policymakers and business in Europe. In the last three years the EPO ARP has attracted 154 research project proposals from 21 European countries. Of these proposals, eleven have been awarded a grant. In 2019 a further four were selected for EPO support.
- This fourth annual call for projects is again offering a total of EUR 300 000 in patent research grants. Selected projects will be granted between EUR 20 000 and EUR 100 000 each.
- The EPO may also offer assistance on a case‑by‑case basis, for example by sharing internal expertise or helping to organise project‑specific workshops. It will also disseminate the results of completed projects through dedicated events and publications.
Thematic Areas
The 2020 call for projects addresses the following thematic areas spanning various disciplines including economics, IP management, and data sciences:
- Measuring the impact of patents on innovation
- The role of IP in technology transfer, commercialisation, and/or investment activities
- Patent services and intermediaries
- Patents and the IP bundle
- Patents and disruptive technologies (AI, Blockchain, 3D, etc.)
- Impact of public policy and the regulatory landscape on the use of patents by SMEs and PROs across Europe
- Patents and climate change mitigation technologies
- Advanced use of PATSTAT, patent searching, and analytics (e.g. classification, potential of IP linked open data)
Your proposed topic’s relevance in terms of the thematic areas will be evaluated by independent peer‑reviewers. The EPO Academic Research Team cannot give feedback or advice on the content of projects during the application process.
The project proposal and any other reports – interim or final – presented to the EPO must be in English.
Selection Process
The proposals will be peer‑reviewed by external experts specialising in the relevant research area. The grants will be awarded by the Programme’s Scientific Committee chaired by the EPO Chief Economist. They anticipate that all project applicants will be informed about the outcome by the end of October 2020.
Research proposals will be rated according to the following criteria:
- originality and innovativeness of the research question
- potential policy/business implications
- clarity and quality of the proposed methodology
- ability of the applicant to successfully complete the project
- relevance of the proposed budget.
For more information, visit https://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2020/20200421.html