Moral Dilemmas in Knowledge Transfer

Moral Dilemmas in Knowledge Transfer

Explore the hidden moral dilemmas faced by Knowledge Transfer managers when doing nothing seems easiest—but consequences run deep.

Book Your Place

06 November 2025 14:00 - 17:00 CEST Online
Members
€200.00
Non-members
€275.00

KT Managers (you) occupy a strange position in their universities. You can often be very close - almost colleagues - to the academics who you serve and who provide your ‘dealflow’ (in the form of useful technologies to take to market).

Yet you act ultimately on behalf of the universities that employ you who will often sign off on potentially large deals based on your advice and ‘due diligence’.

Moreover, you are also on the front line with third parties (businesses and venture investors) who invest in technologies (ones that you have nurtured) with the ultimate aim of making a commercial return on that investment.

95%+ of the time interests are fully aligned (post deal anyway) and there are no issues. However, very occasionally, the KT manager (you!) becomes aware of information that could conceivably result in loss of reputation or litigation. Often this happens after a deal has been signed and in ways not anticipated by the contract.

You will need to decide whether to intervene and how!

Almost always you will be tempted to do nothing on the basis that either:

  • The chances of the problem crystallising are vanishingly small.
  • It is someone else’s problem
  • The information that you have is rumour or unsubstantiated.
  • You fear ‘rocking the boat’ especially where senior academics or commercial interests are involved.

In this Masterclass, Jeff Skinner describes some of the bigger ‘moral dilemmas’ that he’s encountered or observed in his 40 years in Knowledge Transfer. He puts you in his position and asks what you would do or the advice you would give to his younger self at the time.

Of course, the easiest answer in almost every case is to ‘escalate’ to a higher authority or roll in the lawyers. We will avoid such easy answers by delving more deeply into the consequences of doing nothing.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this masterclass, you will learn how to:

  • Avoid agreements that result in bad long-term outcomes.
  • Know when to say, ‘no’ to researchers and to commercial partners.
  • Balance commercial gain with institutional reputational risk
  • Balance commercial pressures with institutional integrity.

Who should attend

This masterclass is ideal for:

  • Early-career professionals entering the KT space who want to understand the ethical and practical complexities of the role.
  • Knowledge Transfer (KT) Managers working in universities or research institutions.
  • Commercialisation professionals involved in managing IP, spinouts, or licensing academic technologies.
  • University Research Managers, especially those supporting academic-industry collaborations.
  • Policy makers or legal advisors in the university research and innovation ecosystem.

Booking Options

  • Are you an ASTP Member?

  • By proceeding with this booking, you are agreeing to allow ASTP to use your image solely for promotional and educational purposes.

Testimonials

testimonial

Perfect balance of learning and networking.

Smiljka Vikic-Topic

University of Zagreb, Croatia

testimonial

Thank you for such enjoyable inspiring event, great choice of the lecturers!!!

Linda Ondrackova

University of Pardubice, Czech Republic

testimonial

ASTP has attained a unique position that has turned it into a highly valued player on the global technology transfer scene.

Koenraad Debackere

KU Leuven, Belgium

testimonial

Most experienced technology transfer crew in the Europe.

Krzysztof Maternicki

Jan Dlugosz University, Poland

testimonial

This course gives an in-depth understanding on managing contract portfolio, including research contracts, license agreements, and other collaboration agreements.

Ram Siddappa

Erasmus MC, Netherlands