A Strategic Approach to Research Exploitation: Maximising Value and Impact

This open access book examines how publicly funded research can be systematically converted into scientific, societal, economic and environmental impact within the paradigm of the entrepreneurial university, conceptualised as a platform institution that orchestrates value co-creation among heterogeneous actors. It positions Principal Investigators as key agents of exploitation and argues for a shift beyond compliance, in which exploitation is not an obligation to be addressed toward the end of the project and becomes a strategic, multidimensional and multi-actor process embedded in research throughout the entire project lifecycle. Building on an operational guide to the Horizon Europe framework, and on an integrated Research Impact Management approach, the book develops a Knowledge-Driven Research Exploitation Ecosystem and the Lean Exploitation Model with its Minimum Valuable Exploitable Result, as novel framework to address the cognitive and strategic complexities of exploitation. Furthermore, it proposes an analysis of legal architecture as a by-design condition of research exploitation. Combining conceptual depth with operational guidance, it offers actionable strategies for impact maximisation through endless exploitation.