ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE RELATIONSHIPS SCIENCE – BUSINESS THROUGH ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTERS FOR TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER IN BULGARIA (THE CASE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ROUSSE)

Abstract

The High Education reform in the Republic of Bulgaria is aiming at transforming the High Schools into integrated centers for science and education, capable of adequately facing the challenging times and investing in more and more qualitative scientific work in every sphere of the social and economic life.
The long period during transition caused demolition of old built relationships and connections between the scientific research work and the real practical requirements of the business. The firms suffer form insufficient financial recourses have limited possibilities to apply new technologies and to order new developments related with their concrete practical problems.
It is important to pay attention to the possibilities for new technological solutions application into the practice in order to enhance the competitiveness of Bulgarian firms and to provide researchers with up to date problematic for their scientific work. For realization of that goal a necessity of new type of innovation and technology transfer infrastructure establishment is being determined.
The article presents a profound analysis of the tendencies in scientific research, the education system and innovation strategies in Bulgaria and in particular of the University of Rousse “Angel Kanchev”. We base our choice on the structural idea of knowledge-based economy which is seen as analytically useful by Cooke and Leydesdorff (2006). They link the knowledge generation to the knowledge exploitation system (mainly companies) and repulses the perception that only industries with heavy concentration of knowledge assets should be in the focus of the research.
The aim of the article is to introduce to the scientific society that in Bulgaria is being worked on that scientific problem and to share the experience in establishment of Technology transfer office (TTO) in the University of Rousse, in building up the connections between the business and scientific workers and to promote a good practice which can be implemented in European Union (EU) member state, due to the financial possibilities, given by the Structural funds. The tasks placed for the solution of the article’s aim are: to elucidate the necessity of technology transfer enhancement between the science and the practice, to analyze the Bulgarian environment and the condition of technology transfer between higher education institutes and business, to estimate the possibilities for technology transfer through establishment of TTO with the use of EU financial sources and to give an example of good practice by sharing the experience, gained during the implementation of EU funded project and to estimate the multiplication possibilities.
Special attention is paid on the positive results after the establishment of the Technology transfer office in the University, accomplished with the financial support of the European Union, PHARE program.