Technology Transfer at the Medical Faculty

Link: Go-Bio initial

Submission deadline: 15.02 of each year, BUT prior consultation with PROvendis necessary (no later than 15.01), so begin timely!

Focus: Life sciences

• Therapeutics
• Diagnostics
• Medical technology
• Platform technologies
• Research tools

Funding:

• Exploratory phase: Personnel, travel, consulting services, patent applications / FtO analysis, material and consumables, up to 100,000 euros.
• Feasibility phase: Staff, travel, consulting services, patent applications / FtO analysis, material and consumables, subcontracts, up to 1,000,000 euros.

Duration:

• Exploratory phase: Up to 12 months
• Feasibility phase: Up to 24 months

Link: Go-Bio next

Submission deadline:

• 15.03. every year
• 15.09. every year

Focus: Life sciences

• Drug and vaccine development
• Novel platform technologies for drug development
• Complex medical devices in risk class 3
• In-vitro diagnostics in risk class D
• Companion diagnostics
• Combination products consisting of a medical device and a drug

Funding:

• Phase I: N/A
• Phase II: N/A

Duration: N/A

Link: Start-interaktiv

Submission deadline: 15.01 and 15.07

Focus:

• Digitally supported health and care
• Liveable spaces: smart, sustainable and innovative

Funding:

• Module 1: Eligible for funding are expenditures for the implementation of R&D projects (personnel, material and travel expenditures as well as project-related investments that are not attributable to the applicant's basic equipment). No maximum funding amount has been specified (we recommend the range around 400,000 euros).
• Module 2: In the case of startups with little capital, it is checked whether funding of eligible project-related expenses, usually 80%, could be necessary. Maximum funding: 400,000 euros.

Duration: 18-36 months

Link: Validierungsförderung VIP+

Submission deadline: Continuous application possible

Focus: Topic agnostic

Funding: Up to 1,500,000 euros

Duration: Up to 36 months

Link: EXIST-Forschungstransfer

Submission deadline:

• Continuous application possible
• Project evaluation takes place starting 31.04., 31.08. and 30.11. every year

Focus: Topic agnostic

Funding:

• Phase 1: From 500,00 up to 1,500,000 euros. Personnel expenses / costs for a maximum of four personnel positions as well as material expenses / costs are financed. The material expenses / costs include, for example, commodities, consumables, capital goods, property rights, market research and the awarding of orders and coaching measures. Student assistants can also be funded. The expenses/costs for student assistants and material expenses/costs are generally eligible up to a total of 250,000 euros. Projects of the research institutions of the FhG, HGF, Max Planck Society, Leibniz Association that are jointly funded by the federal and state governments can be funded up to 90%, those of universities and other research institutions up to 100%.
• Phase 2: Non-repayable subsidy of up to 180,000 euros, but no more than 75% of the specific costs of the project. As a prerequisite for funding, the company provides its own funds and, if necessary, equity capital in a ratio of 1:3 (up to 60,000 euros).

Duration:

• Phase 1: 18 - 36 months
• Phase 2: 18 months

Link: EXIST-Gründerstipendium

Submission deadline: Continuous application possible

Focus: Topic agnostic

Funding:

• Founders with a doctorate degree: 3,000 euros/month
• Graduates with a university degree: 2,500 euros/month
• Technical employees: 2,000 euros/month
• Students: 1,000 euros/month
• Child supplement: 150 euros/month per child
• Material expenses: up to 10,000 euros for individual start-ups (max. 30,000 euros per team)

Duration: 12 months

Link: KMU-innovativ

Submission deadline: Depends onthe individual technology field

Focus:

• Bioeconomy
• Electronics and autonomous driving
• Supercomputing
• Research for civil security
• Medical technology
• Information-and communicationtechnologies
• Interactive technologies for health and quality of life
• Material research
• Photonics and quantum technologies
• Production technology
• Resource efficiency and climate protection

Funding: 20 to 100% of the eligible costs, depending on applicants and type of costs

Duration: N/A

Link: ERC Proof of Concept

Submission deadline:

• 13.03.2025
• 18.09.2025

Focus: Only PIs from one of the ERC main grants (Starting, Consolidator, Advanced, Synergy) may apply.

Funding: 150,000 euros

Duration: 18 months

Link: EIC Pathfinder Open & Challenges

Submission deadline:

• 21.05.2025
• 29.10.2025

Focus: EIC Pathfinder Open is open to all topics. New topics are published for the EIC Pathfinder Challenges every year. Consortia are usually required for EIC Pathfinder Open, but individual applications are also permitted for EIC Pathfinder Challenges.

Funding: up to 4,000,000 euros

Duration: N/A

Link: EIC Transition Open & Challenges

Submission deadline:

• 17.09.2025

Focus: EIC Transition Open is open to all topics. New topics are published for EIC Transition Challenges every year. Only projects that are funded with EIC Pathfinder, ERANET FET programs or ERC Proof of Concept may apply.

Funding: up to 2,500,000 euros

Duration: up to 36 months

Do you have an idea that might have widespread application? Disclosing your invention is a crucial first step towards protecting your interests and your innovation’s potential.

How to get started

There is some initial information we need before we can prepare your invention disclosure. This helps us to determine the ownership of the invention, the scope of patent protection, which inventors should be put on a patent application and more. Here is an overview:

• General information about the invention
• Information concerning the inventor(s)
• Description of the invention
• Description of the market
• Additional results
• Confirmation of the inventor(s)
• Confirmation of the university
• Assignment of PROvendis*

To provide us with this information please download the Standard Invention Disclosure or the Software Invention Disclosure, fill it in and send it to us following the instructions inside. If you need help in any way, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Note: While it is important to include the required information in pursuit of completing this form, please do not delay your submission due to a lack of simple, granular information (e.g., an address). These types of details can be collected later in the process.

Note: Making a public disclosure before patent filing may jeopardize our ability to protect your IP.

*As the official patent service for NRW universities we closely work with PROvendis GmbH for all invention disclosures, patent applications and licensing deals.

Protect your intellectual property when collaborating with third parties, whether they are non-profit or for-profit institutions.

MTAs specify the rights, obligations and restrictions of both the providing and receiving parties with respect to issues such as ownership, publication, intellectual property and permitted use and liability.

All contracts need to be presented to the responsible internal team and have to be checked and approved by them. Please reach out to Martin Trillsch, or alternatively contact us.

Different inventions require different licensing strategies. For example, a basic new scientific tool that is likely to be widely used is typically licensed on a non-exclusive basis. In contrast, an invention which requires significant investment of resources by a company is typically licensed on an exclusive basis. The exclusive license provides the licensee with an incentive to undertake the risky capital investments and commit the resources required for product development.

Key starting points for customising a licensing approach for each entity include knowing:

• The product benefits relative to existing products
• The expected customers
• Market channels
• Potential sales and margins
• Additional aspects of the proposed or existing business

Standard features of a license will typically include negotiated financial terms, such as annual fees, milestone fees, a royalty on product sales and reimbursement of patent costs. The non-financial terms of the license are equally important and will include:

• Degree of exclusivity: nonexclusive, exclusive, or restricted by field of use
• Reservation of rights for the federal government (if the invention is derived from federally-funded research) and for the University and other non-profit organizations for their research and educational activities
• Performance (or “diligence”) requirements to assure that the company has the resources to develop the technology and is committed to doing so. These diligence terms allow for tracking the progress of the technology toward commercialisation.

1. Invention Disclosure. The inventors provide a description of the technology and an explanation of the critical solution it could provide to benefit society by submitting an Invention Disclosure Form. This is the first step of the Patent Application preparation process.

2. Preliminary Invention Assessment. Each disclosure is evaluated for commercial potential and patentability by NRW's specialised service provider PROvendis. Factors considered include:

• Novelty
• Inventive approach
• Manufacturing feasibility
• Potential applications
• Market size
• Potential competitors/partners
• Potential challenges to patenting and commercialisation

According to the Arbeitnehmererfindergesetz PROvendis has four months from the time of notification to consider the chances that a technology can be successfully patented or licensed before investing in the cost of obtaining patent protection (approximately 30.000 – 45.000 EUR in Germany alone).

If PROvendis decides to make a claim, it is obliged to file a patent application with the inventors in Germany and to pay inventor remuneration in the event of financial exploitation (see Royalty Sharing below). If PROvendis decides against it, the invention is released and the inventors are allowed to file by themselves.

3. Patent Application. To obtain a patent, PROvendis files an official request for examination with the DPMA and starts a process that may take up to 2.5 years. If the result of the examination is positive, the patent owner is granted the exclusive right to exploit the invention for a maximum period of 20 years.

4. Invention Commercialisation. The main goals are to ensure that the technology will be used for the public benefit, complying with federal and University policies and if successful will provide a reasonable financial return to the University and the inventors. Few possibilities exist for the commercialisation of patents such as:

• Licensing agreements
• Raising third party funding
• Starting a business

The approach may vary on case by case basis and will depend on various factors, including the interest of the market. PROvendis and the University will market the technology to companies and organisations who might be interested in dedicating money, people and resources to develop it for broader use.

5. Royalty Sharing. In the case of the successful commercialisation of the patent application, following the University's Patent Strategy the gross income or royalties are divided the following way:

• 30% goes to the inventors
• 5-15% goes to PROvendis, depending on the gross income

The University uses the remaining income to refinance the patenting costs as well as transfer-related activities and to incentivise the Institute of the inventors.

In the case of multiple inventors, the University will divide the inventors' share equally unless all the inventors have agreed to a different allocation.

Who is an inventor? Unlike authorship on a research publication, inventorship is a legal determination made by a patent attorney. An inventor on a patent is someone whose ideas and experimentation are responsible for (or substantially contributed to) the conception of an invention. In a university setting, inventors might include the faculty member in whose lab the IP originated, students or postdocs who carried out work in the lab, and collaborators or others who contributed to the invention.

What can be patented? To be patentable, an invention must be useful, novel, and not obvious.

• Compositions of matter – new chemical or biological entities, but not isolated products of nature
• Machines – mechanical or electronic devices, including medical devices
• Articles of manufacture – new products made by defined process
• Processes – methods of making compositions, methods of making articles, and even some methods of gathering or evaluating data or of performing business

Researchers also generate other types of intellectual property in addition to inventions, such as copyrightable creations, including content-based scholarly works, and unpatented materials, such as cell lines.

Who owns what I create? Ownership depends upon the employment status of the creators of the invention and their use of University resources. Considerations include:

• What was the creator's employment status at the time the intellectual property was made?
• Were University resources used in creating the intellectual property?
• What are the terms of any agreement related to the creation of the intellectual property?

As a general rule, the University owns inventions conceived or reduced to practice in whole or in part by members of the faculty or staff (including student employees) of the University in the course of their University responsibilities or with more than incidental use of University resources.

Launching a startup company can be an exciting and fulfilling opportunity. We can help you analyze several factors to determine whether this is the most appropriate path to commercialisation for your technology, including:

• The potential of the core technology to provide a solid platform for multiple markets or product opportunities
• The competitive environment
• Likelihood of interest from existing companies in licensing the technology
• Availability of venture capital, together with the interest, capabilities, and track record of likely investors
• And more

Here is a list of startups from Uni Bonn.

We are here to help. This help can take various forms and cover many directions, including:

• Set up a collaboration between the university and industry
• Provide expertise in various technology, business, legal and leadership fields
• Help you find application for your invention
• Help you protect your invention
• Help you apply for grants and VC funding
• Help you start your own company

To get started just contact us.

There are few popular routes when it comes to getting funding for an academic startup.

Grants. Involves the borrowing of money without the obligation to repay them. Grants are, essentially, a gift. See Innovation Funding section above for a list of grants we can help you apply for.

Equity financing. Involves selling a portion of a company's equity in return for capital. The main advantage of equity financing is that there is no obligation to repay the money acquired through it in case of a failure. The downside is that one has to consult with the new partners any time one makes decisions affecting the company.

Equity financing is the most popular financing path for startups with innovative solutions. It usually requires getting initial market traction and showing some product/market fit proof.

More common forms of equity financing include:

• Angel investors
• Crowdfunding
• Venture capital firms (VC)
• Corporate investors
• Listing on an exchange with an initial public offering (IPO)

Debt financing. Involves the borrowing of money and paying it back with interest. The advantages of debt financing include retention of control over your business, tax deductible interest payments and predictability. The downside to debt financing is that it is a bet on ones future ability to pay back the loan.

More common forms of debt financing include:

• Term loans
• Business lines of credit
• Personal loans, usually from a family or friend
• Peer-to-peer lending services

There are various regional and national startup pitching contests with prizes ranging from 1.000 to 100.000 EUR. A collection can be found on few websites, including:

• Top 50 Startups
• Existenzgründer
• Existenzgründerinnen

Some of the more popular ones focused on medicine are here:

March:

• AXOLOTL German Med & Health Businessplan Wettbewerb
• BWK Gruenderwettbewerb
• Telemedizinpreis

April:

• HEALTH-I Award
• Science4life
• G4A Pitch Club

June:

• SENovation Award

August:

• Gründerpreis NRW
• BioRiver Boost!

September:

• Digitales Start-up des Jahres

Note: You can keep your invention a secret and still participate in a startup competitons. We can help you with that. Get in touch with us.

There are tons of great resources on the internet, here are some recommended ones.

Science startups:

• Nature Biotechnology: Building a Buisness
• Example Nonbinding Term Sheet for Research Collaboration, Option, and License Agreement
• Venture Capital 101: A Primer for Academic Entrepreneurs
• Biostar Biotech: Various Cap Table Scenarios for a Hypothetical Biotech Startup
• Investing in University Technologies: Founder's Equity
• Fast Forward Medical Innovation – Commercialization Education

Pitch decks:

• 14 Pitch Deck Examples from Successful Startups
• The early pitch decks of 29 startups before they became billion-dollar companies

Startup know-how:

• How to Start a Startup by Sam Altman
• Startup Playbook by Sam Altman
• YCAdvice - Discover the best Y Combinator advice for startup success
• 25 Business Moats That Helped Shape The World’s Most Massive Companies

Internal network at the University:

• University Transfer Center enaCom
• University Clinics
• Bonn Technology Campus
• Exellence Clusters
• Transdisciplinary Research Areas
• Science2Startup
• MIB – Medical Imaging Center Bonn

External network:

• High-Tech Gründerfonds
• DigitalHub.de
• Accelerate.nrw
• NRWalley.de