Technology transfer and business development professionals work with several audiences at once: researchers who need to commit, industry partners who need to see risk and return, and investors who look at scale and exit. The same scientific result lands differently with each of them, and the message that is sent is rarely the message that is received. Once a deal is on the table, a second problem appears: negotiations and partnerships stall because the parties never made their expectations explicit. Think of unclear points of contact, different assumptions about timelines, or a partner who expects to co-decide while the other side only plans to inform.
Many deals in tech transfer do not fail on the science or on the legal text. They stall on misaligned messages and unspoken expectations, which costs time, goodwill and sometimes the deal itself. Knowing what each audience is actually "buying", and surfacing expectations before the negotiation starts, is a skill that KTO professionals use every day but rarely get structured training in.
This masterclass combines short input blocks with two practical group exercises. Input covers the sender-receiver model of communication, expectation management, a pitching method including the Feature-Advantage-Benefit-Proof (FAB(S)) chain, and five types of expectations (deliverables, timelines, quality, communication, involvement) with their priorities per party. Illustrative examples and realistic case patterns from licensing and co-development deals are used throughout. The goal is that participants leave with tools they can apply in their next pitch and their next negotiation.
This masterclass is designed for technology transfer officers, business developers, licensing and partnership managers and related professionals at universities, research institutes and hospitals, from early career to senior level. No prior knowledge is required, so you can join with confidence whatever your background.
By the end of the masterclass, participants will be able to:
ASTP Conference offers great networking and learning opportunities; a chance to share knowledge with colleagues from various areas of expertise.
Bruno Woeran
Merinova OY - TII President, Finland
Organisation and speakers were great, so enthusiastic about their work and very good at transferring their knowledge.
Sarka Bartova
Research Centre Rez, Czech Republic
This is a wonderful conference to expand the horizon of my knowledge of tech transfer and commercialisation.
Seung-Ho Lee
Deltatech-Korea, South Korea
Exciting training, even after almost 10 hours I am curious about more experience and knowledge.
Petr Suchomel
Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic
The best opportunity to learn and discuss common issues and interests directly with peers.
Ian Nicoud
LURIS, Netherlands
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