The IP4OS project has reached an important milestone in its training roll-out: following an open public call in 2025, 45 pilot teams from 24 EU Member States have been selected to take part in the IP4OS Pilot Learning Lab. This strong response confirms both the relevance of the topic and the need for practical, institution-level support at the interface of Intellectual Property (IP), Open Science (OS), and knowledge valorisation.

What is the IP4OS Pilot Learning Lab?

The IP4OS Pilot Learning Lab is a structured, action-oriented training format designed to support institutions in establishing and testing multi-professional collaboration models for IP and Open Science in real research settings.

Rather than offering a one-off workshop or generic training, the Pilot Learning Lab follows a three-session learning sprint approach. Participating institutions work with their own cases or provided scenarios and their internal structures to explore how different professional roles — such as researchers, technology transfer officers, librarians, data stewards, research managers, and legal experts — can collaborate more effectively throughout the research lifecycle.

The format focuses on:

• clarifying roles and friction points between IP and Open Science practices,
• testing communication and collaboration mechanisms in realistic scenarios, and
• translating insights into concrete institutional next steps, such as draft procedures, consultation workflows, or team set-ups.

The Pilot Learning Lab is deliberately framed as a safe-to-fail experimental space. Its purpose is not to impose a single model, but to enable institutions to identify what works in their specific context and to feed these insights back into the IP4OS project.

From public call to EU-wide implementation

To ensure broad participation and decentralised implementation, IP4OS launched an open public call for pilot institutions. The response exceeded expectations: 45 pilot teams representing 24 EU Member States were selected, covering a wide range of institutional types, disciplinary backgrounds, and maturity levels in IP and Open Science.

This outcome demonstrates a strong demand for hands-on, practice-oriented formats that go beyond awareness-raising and actively support institutional change.

Current status: toolbox online, pilots preparing for launch

As of this week, the IP4OS Pilot Learning Lab Toolbox is openly available online via Zenodo. Pilot teams are currently scheduling their sessions with their designated IP4OS coaches, and the first Pilot Learning Lab sessions will kick off at the end of January, marking the start of the practical implementation phase across Europe.

Over the coming months, teams will run their learning sprints, test collaboration approaches in real cases, and contribute their experiences back into the project.

What does the IP4OS Toolbox contain?

To support pilot teams and institutions beyond the training sessions themselves, IP4OS has published a comprehensive open Toolbox that brings together practical instruments, guidance documents, and reference resources. The Toolbox can be used independently or in combination, both within and beyond the Pilot Learning Lab.

The IP4OS Toolbox is structured into six thematic clusters:

1. Knowledge Valorisation Rubric

A practical decision-support tool that helps teams reflect on:

• whether they are producing or using intellectual assets,
• when protection or sharing should take place, and
• the appropriate level of reuse and openness.

The rubric is designed for consultations, training exercises, and real project discussions.

2. FAIR-R²L Rubric

A complementary rubric focusing on the relationship between FAIR principles, reuse, and legal/IP considerations. It supports informed decisions on how research outputs can be made findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable while remaining legally and ethically sound.

3. Valorisation Consultancy Form

A structured intake and reflection form that supports:

• preparation of IP–OS consultations,
• identification of relevant intellectual assets, and
• alignment of research goals with valorisation and openness strategies.

This form is used within the Pilot Learning Lab and can also be adapted for institutional consulting services.

4. Concepts, Valorisation Pathway, and Resources for IP and Open Science

This cluster provides shared conceptual grounding and reference material, including:

• an IP4OS glossary,
• the Knowledge Valorisation Pathway (including an expanded version), and
• a micro-level library of curated resources for IP, Open Science, and knowledge valorisation.

Together, these elements help teams situate practical decisions within a coherent conceptual framework.

5. Guide on Multi-Professional Teams and Consultations

This cluster supports institutions that want to establish or strengthen multi-professional IP–OS teams, including:

• A Guide to Establishing Multi-Professional Teams for Research Knowledge Valorisation,
• documentation from the first pilot of a multi-professional team, and
• a Guide for IP–OS Consultations.

These materials translate project experience into reusable institutional guidance.

6. Pilot Learning Lab Materials

All core materials supporting the IP4OS Pilot Learning Lab itself are included here, such as:

• session designs,
• reflection and reporting templates, and
• guidance for the mini field tests between sessions.

All Toolbox components are also available as individual PDF files, allowing trainers and institutions to select and adapt elements according to their needs. Editable versions are provided for consortium partners and trainers who wish to contextualise the materials locally.

Why this matters for IP4OS — and beyond

The Pilot Learning Lab plays a central role in IP4OS’ ambition to move from concepts and frameworks to institutional practice. Insights generated through the pilots will directly inform:

• the further refinement of the IP4OS Synergy Framework,
• the development of reusable tools and guidance for higher education institutions and research organisations across Europe, and
• the consolidation of a Community of Practice that supports long-term sustainability of these capacities.

By combining an open call, decentralised implementation, and openly available training resources, the Pilot Learning Lab establishes a strong foundation for sustainable capacity building in IP and Open Science, grounded in real institutional experience.

Open invitation: completing the European map and growing the Community of Practice

While participation has been strong, IP4OS is still looking to extend participation to the remaining EU Member States, in particular Bulgaria, Finland, and Slovakia.

Academic and research institutions from these countries that are interested in establishing a multi-professional team for IP and Open Science are warmly invited to join. A good starting point is the openly available IP4OS publication
“A Guide to Establishing Multi-Professional Teams for Research Knowledge Valorisation”, which provides practical guidance, examples, and tools.

Beyond the pilots, IP4OS welcomes all interested professionals and institutions — whether or not they are part of a formal pilot — to join the growing IP4OS Community of Practice. The Community offers a space for exchange, peer learning, and continued collaboration on how IP and Open Science can jointly support knowledge valorisation across Europe.