From May 26 to 28, BIO4 Campus organized the Tech Transfer Breakthrough Workshop at Science and Technology Park Belgrade, bringing together leading international experts and key Serbian stakeholders to address one of the most critical topics for the country’s innovation future — technology transfer.

The three-day workshop was delivered in collaboration with experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) — Christopher Noble (MIT Technology Licensing Office), Luis Barros (Innovation & Entrepreneurship Educator, MIT), and Michellana Y. Jester (Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan Global Programs) — and focused on practical steps for building a high-performance tech transfer system adapted to Serbia’s institutional and regulatory environment.

The three-day program offered a mix of structured discussion and hands-on working sessions. Participants included representatives from faculties, institutes, innovation centers, and other bodies engaged in research commercialization. The workshop provided a space to exchange experiences, identify common challenges, and define practical steps for strengthening Serbia’s innovation pipeline.

The workshop also included a virtual panel with global leaders in tech transfer, featuring Lita Nelsen, long-time director of MIT’s Technology Licensing Office and one of the world’s foremost experts in research commercialization. Her insights, together with those of peers from other institutions, helped bring international perspective to the discussion, while reinforcing the message that progress is possible even in complex or resource-constrained systems.

The workshop covered essential features of effective tech transfer ecosystems, including IP management, spinout support, governance structures, incentive alignment, and industry engagement. In addition, a curated package of MIT contract templates was introduced,  including licenses, option agreements, and inter-institutional agreements, offering a practical toolkit to support implementation.

The event was organized as part of BIO4’s ongoing efforts to strengthen Serbia’s innovation infrastructure. It also responded directly to the growing interest among Serbian institutions in forming spin-offs, managing IP portfolios, and building sustainable research-industry bridges. By hosting this workshop, BIO4 Campus helped catalyze a much-needed national conversation on research commercialization, one grounded in real-world examples and aimed at enabling long-term, systemic change.