Valorisation has only recently become a legally mandated core task for all university medical centers (UMCs). Amsterdam UMC is the first UMC to actually appoint a vice dean for this purpose: Arjen Brussaard, who is also chair of the Amsterdam Valorisation Board.

Amsterdam UMC has an incredible amount of talent and innovative power, as was once again demonstrated by the Valorisation Festival in September, according to Brussaard. "We can draw on the potential of our eight research institutes, but we also have the divisions that inclcude medical specialists and healthcare professionals, as well as lecturers and professors from two universities. The strength of the university medical center is that the hospital, the medical faculties, and the associated science and behavioral science faculties all come together in a single ecosystem."

Impact

This is therefore the ideal environment for using academic knowledge to achieve societal impact. Because that is what valorisation is all about, according to the vice dean. "Valorisation means creating value," says Brussaard. "Making economic profit is never the primary goal of valorisation. It's about using knowledge to add value to society." In Amsterdam Zuidoost, for example, this could involve fair and accessible healthcare or a project with the municipality of Amsterdam to develop innovation hubs. Or it could involve the science faculties and companies working on applications for artificial intelligence.

Although valorisation has long been part of Amsterdam UMC, it has only recently become one of its four statutory core tasks. In the Valorisation Compass*, the Amsterdam Valorisation Board has outlined the course Amsterdam UMC intends to take as a leading knowledge institution to create added value for society.

The valorisation policy will be further elaborated in the coming years. "We have spent six years working on the merger and have been primarily focused internally. Now we are opening our doors and, in consultation with external stakeholders, exploring how we can make meaningful improvements."

In collaboration

Because that is the next step, explains Brussaard: "We want to innovate much more in collaboration with societal stakeholders. With the government, with parties from the public domain, but also from the business community. For example, GP networks, training courses for operating room assistants, or real estate developers who want to construct buildings where biotech companies can locate. We're not going to decide what stakeholders need, but we're going to ask them: what do you need?"

The new valorisation policy is an essential part of Amsterdam UMC's new strategic course, 'A Healthy Future for All'. "It means that we are involved and committed," says Brussaard. "That when we innovate, we consider what it means for our patients, for younger generations, for people born in a postcode area where no one matches all seven indicators. Those inclusive questions really need to be leading."

*You can download the English version here

Valorisation Compass

Taking initiative

Using knowledge to make a societal impact. Brussaard believes that all Amsterdam UMC employees should be imbued with this idea. "It's about taking initiative. It should be a natural part of the job description for every PhD student, every nurse, every teacher, and every doctor. Whether you are a clinician or a researcher, you should be able to build a career based on your valorisation activities and not just because you have published in high-impact journals. And valorisation does not always have to result in a spin-off company or a licensing agreement. Just like in a vegetable garden, you have to plant a hundred seeds and grow cuttings in order to eventually have a number of large plants in your garden."