Industrial Liaison Network

Industrial Liaison Network

The Industrial Liaison Network is a support network for helping companies, government and non-profit organisations to access and leverage application-oriented knowledge and technology.

IOF Business Development Centers

The Business Development Centers at Ghent University group complementary research departments by application area or domain of expertise. Together they constitute the Industrial Liaison Network.

Each business development center is responsible for technology transfer within its area of expertise. A center is headed by a business development manager who can act as your direct point of contact for industrial partnerships, be it (collaborative) research, services, or IP licensing.

IOF platforms


The IOF platforms combine various research domains, meeting the increasing social and economic importance of interdisciplinarity.

The IOF platform coordinator is the central point of contact for a specific area of expertise. With these IOF valorisation platforms, the Ghent University Association wants to make maximum use of multidisciplinary valorisation opportunities within core expertise domains.

Funding for technology transfer

The Industrial Research Fund (IOF) supports the development of application-oriented knowledge and technology and its transfer to industry. The IOF provides Proof-of-Concept funding for crucial phases in the development process of valorisation-oriented projects with an economic or socio-economic objective

More information on IOF funding at our internal page on funding for technology transfer (only accessible to Ghent University employees and researchers).