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Knowledge and technology transfer in German universities : an exploratory study leveraging information from university websites

Schubert, Torben LU ; Darold, Denilton LU and Kroll, Henning (2025) In Socio-Economic Planning Sciences 102.
Abstract

Despite the multidimensionality of knowledge and technology transfer (KTT), existing quantitative evaluations predominantly focus on a limited range of channels, often resulting from the availability of data rather than theoretical considerations. To address this gap, we leverage unstructured data from university websites to develop indicators that provide a comprehensive view of universities’ KTT activities. Applying large-language-transformers to scraped websites of German universities, we identify five distinct KTT dimensions: engagement in collaborative research consortia with industry, technical consulting activities, start-up activities, the development of regional tech transfer hubs, as well as technology transfer offices. Based... (More)

Despite the multidimensionality of knowledge and technology transfer (KTT), existing quantitative evaluations predominantly focus on a limited range of channels, often resulting from the availability of data rather than theoretical considerations. To address this gap, we leverage unstructured data from university websites to develop indicators that provide a comprehensive view of universities’ KTT activities. Applying large-language-transformers to scraped websites of German universities, we identify five distinct KTT dimensions: engagement in collaborative research consortia with industry, technical consulting activities, start-up activities, the development of regional tech transfer hubs, as well as technology transfer offices. Based on exploratory regression analyses, we find that the intensity of the type of KTT activities varies with the regional environment as well as university characteristics. Moreover, our regressions unveil a synergistic relationship between KTT and basic research, where this finding again seems to depend strongly on the type of KTT activity.

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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Knowledge-transfer, Large-language transformers, Semantic-search, Technology-transfer, Topic modeling, Topic-modeling
in
Socio-Economic Planning Sciences
volume
102
article number
102333
pages
15 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:105017460169
ISSN
0038-0121
DOI
10.1016/j.seps.2025.102333
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
1b4ae24f-51d3-4bc2-89b9-cb3b3e99945e
date added to LUP
2025-10-15 19:23:35
date last changed
2025-10-17 10:41:44
@article{1b4ae24f-51d3-4bc2-89b9-cb3b3e99945e,
  abstract     = {{<p>Despite the multidimensionality of knowledge and technology transfer (KTT), existing quantitative evaluations predominantly focus on a limited range of channels, often resulting from the availability of data rather than theoretical considerations. To address this gap, we leverage unstructured data from university websites to develop indicators that provide a comprehensive view of universities’ KTT activities. Applying large-language-transformers to scraped websites of German universities, we identify five distinct KTT dimensions: engagement in collaborative research consortia with industry, technical consulting activities, start-up activities, the development of regional tech transfer hubs, as well as technology transfer offices. Based on exploratory regression analyses, we find that the intensity of the type of KTT activities varies with the regional environment as well as university characteristics. Moreover, our regressions unveil a synergistic relationship between KTT and basic research, where this finding again seems to depend strongly on the type of KTT activity.</p>}},
  author       = {{Schubert, Torben and Darold, Denilton and Kroll, Henning}},
  issn         = {{0038-0121}},
  keywords     = {{Knowledge-transfer; Large-language transformers; Semantic-search; Technology-transfer; Topic modeling; Topic-modeling}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Socio-Economic Planning Sciences}},
  title        = {{Knowledge and technology transfer in German universities : an exploratory study leveraging information from university websites}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2025.102333}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.seps.2025.102333}},
  volume       = {{102}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}