Companies usually know when something needs to change. A production process may use too much energy, valuable materials may be going to waste, or an existing service may no longer meet people’s needs. Turning such a practical problem into a clear innovation challenge that researchers can understand and address is often more difficult.
The BEAGLE project, an initiative co-funded by the European Union, has officially entered its third and
final year. Applying the principles of the Blue Ocean Strategy, the project focuses on creating unique
opportunities for collaboration between researchers and businesses.
This autumn, the BEAGLE project will release the BEAGLE Replication Handbook — a free practical guide designed to help organisations, innovation ecosystems and collaboration facilitators apply the BEAGLE methodology in their own contexts.
Every year, universities and research organisations generate valuable knowledge, innovative technologies, and promising ideas. Yet many of these results never reach businesses, public organisations, or communities that could benefit from them.
Too many promising research results never reach the market. The technology works, the need is real, but the path from lab to commercial application collapses somewhere in between. This gap, widely known as the “valley of death”, is one of the most persistent structural failures in European innovation ecosystems.
University West contributes to BEAGLE by developing a framework for assessing
collaboration readiness—the extent to which organizations are prepared to engage in
effective academia–industry partnerships. Using BEAGLE’s VFS data, HV identifies key
readiness dimensions such as strategic alignment, resources, governance,
communication, and innovation orientation.
BEAGLE proposes an innovative methodology for value creation from the uptake of the research results applying the Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS). This ambition is materialised through a co‑creation experiment addressing 12 promising market niches. Within this framework, CTAG plays a central role by leading the Mixed Teams (MTs) that drive collaboration, coordination, and results generation.
The BEAGLE project is designed as an innovation funnel that connects industry needs with research capacities and gradually narrows a broad range of ideas into implementable projects. The expected outcome is approximately 40 project proposals, from which 20 final innovation projects with action plans will be selected.
The BEAGLE is entering a decisive phase. Our Mixed Teams expert committee
is now finalising the evaluations of the current matching stage, a crucial step in
shaping the future collaborations that will drive innovation across industry and
academia.
On 5–6 February 2026, the BEAGLE consortium gathered in Pilsen, Czech Republic, hosted by the University of West Bohemia. As we enter the final year of the project, the meeting was a key opportunity to review our progress, assess our work across various packages, and sharpen our focus on the next steps.