university–enterprise cooperation

3.3. European Commission incentives
and encouragements
3.3.1. Documents
In the last 30 years the European Commission
has been very active in promoting cooperation
between university and enterprise. In
different communications and through various
programmes for the promotion of education
and training, the European Commission has
promoted cooperation as a means of increasing
the relevance of education to the needs of
the labour market, of improving graduates’
employability and of maximising the use of
knowledge, with positive results both for
research and for industry.
The first example is the Comett Programme,
set up in 1986, to strengthen cooperation
between universities and enterprises in the
fields of training and technology. Thanks
to Comett Programme, a large number of
partnerships between universities and
enterprises were set up and grants were
awarded for staff exchanges between
universities and firms. But in the recent
years multiple actions have been proposed:
a summary of the most interesting works of
the last decade is reported in the table 3.1.
Relationship between universities and the
business community is of strategic importance
and for the public interest. Partnerships with
the business community bring opportunities
for universities to improve the sharing of
research results, intellectual property rights,
patents and licenses. They can also increase
the relevance of education and training
programs through placements of students
and researchers in business.
3.3.2. Recommended changes
According to European specificities, the
Commission suggests that the following
changes are going to be a key to success in the
process of university-enterprise cooperation:
3.3.2.1. To create a new curricula for
employability
In order to overcome inconsistency between
graduate qualifications and the needs of the
labour market, the Commission suggests that
university programs should be structured
to enhance directly the employability of
graduates.
Following changes to curricula and learning
methods were adopted as primary:
• The inclusion of transversal and transferable
skills in curricula at all levels of qualification;
• Better examination methods;
• To give opportunities to talents from
non-traditional backgrounds, including
adults returning to study;
• Greater interdisciplinary of education
and research agendas.
Schools and universities must be encouraged
to provide the appropriate types of education
and training to develop the skills needed by
new generations of “knowledge workers”,
who will need to combine expertise with
entrepreneurial spirit.
3.3.2.2. To foster the entrepreneurship
Opinion is that a constant presence of
business people on universities campus and a
constant interaction of students to business
would help create the required change.
Appropriate field for this can be in the
postgraduate training programs, and a good
example can be the Marie Curie Initial Training
Networks that focus on entrepreneurial skills.
A great field for work are activities that should
reach students from an early studies stage
like, existing activities, e.g. conferences,
internships and project work and these
should be expansed, and extracurricular
opportunities also were seen as useful,
(start-up, spin-off companies).
3.3.2.3. To transfer the knowledge
A most universities need support to make the
organizational changes and need to build up
entrepreneurial attitudes if want to secure the
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State of the art in the area of university-enterprise cooperation - EU level 3