University Innovation Hub (PUI)

The University of Montpellier has been designated a University Innovation Hub

Following an initial pilot phase that began in 2021, Sylvie Retailleau, Minister of Higher Education and Research, announced in July 2023 that the University of Montpellier had been designated a University Innovation Hub (PUI), receiving a total grant of €9 million across both phases.

The University Innovation Hub has recognized the University of Montpellier as an organization capable of making its knowledge and technology transfer offerings more transparent and of fostering smoother public-private relationships and partnerships.

The strategies of the higher education and research institutions located in Montpellier and its surrounding area are geared toward the emergence of a University Innovation Hub, led by the University of Montpellier. TheI-SITE’s “Feed-Care-Protect” framework remains the backbone of the University Innovation Hub’s strategic vision.

The objectives of the University Innovation Hub (PUI)

The Montpellier University Innovation Park has considerable potential to help reduce economic disparities in the region by stimulating the creation of startups, fostering innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises, and enhancing the region’s appeal to outside companies.

With one-third of Occitanie’s public Professors researchers (5,000 out of 15,000), as well as 28% of students (70,000 out of 250,000), Montpellier benefits from dedicated and high-performing innovation structures such as the SATT AxLR, a metropolitan incubator (BIC de Montpellier), an effective regional economic development agency (Agence AD’OCC), and a network of socio-economic groups (clusters, competitiveness clusters, etc.).

The initiatives of our PUI aim to promote collaborative research, foster technology transfer, and encourage entrepreneurship.

The programs of the University Innovation Hub (PUI)

Here are a few examples of initiatives launched by the PUI to encourage public-private partnerships, promote technology transfer, and support business creation:

• Booster Innovation Montpellier (BIM): dedicated support for innovators in the early stages of their project’s development, through training on various commercialization pathways and potential funding.
• Innovation Award: An award recognizing staff members from all partners of the I-SITE Excellence Program for their commitment to developing innovations stemming from one of the five research clusters.
• Innovation After-Work: an annual event bringing together researchers, businesses, partners, and local governments to discuss innovation, commercialization, partnerships, and entrepreneurship, during which the Innovation Awards are presented to the winners. 
• Companies and Campus: a call for proposals aimed at supporting the establishment of new public-private research partnerships by funding a portion of innovation-related expenses and encouraging the mobility of partner staff within the company or laboratory.
• In Lab Engineering: a call for proposals aimed at supporting the establishment of new partnerships and facilitating access for SMEs to the expertise of PUI organizations by providing funding to winning research organizations or platforms that wish to develop innovation hubs open to businesses.
• “Setting Up a Labcom”Workshop: workshops designed to raise awareness about the creation of “joint laboratories” between companies and research organization laboratories, aimed at PUI staff and researchers.
• Developmentof Initium, the University of Montpellier’s business incubator, designed for entrepreneurs with innovative projects who are seeking support in starting a business.
• Creation and development of the PEPITE Deeptech initiative, aimed at raising awareness and supporting deep tech entrepreneurs in commercializing their innovations.
• Capacity Building: a training program on innovation designed for all I-SITE partners.
• Deploy digital tools, particularly through OCAPI, to manage agreements, calls for proposals, and intellectual property. The tool will subsequently integrate a software detection platform and an invention reporting module.

PUI Partners