

Source: Science Works 2017 Impact Ranking The picture show how the University of Twente is doing compared to other Dutch universities.įigure 1: Entrepreneurial universities in the Netherlands 2 This was based on a combination of its performance in terms of producing spin-offs, providing seed capital, applying for patents and numbers of employees working in the Science Park (see Figure 1). In 2013, 20 the university was awarded the prize of most entrepreneurial university in the Netherlands. The university’s success in this area is reflected in a large number of innovations and spinoffs (e.g. the Dutch Student Investment Fund), the university offers start-up support. Through Novel-T and several other innovation funds (e.g. The science park houses some 470 companies, offering employment to more than 6,000 jobs, making it the biggest science park in the Netherlands (Buck Consultants, 2018). The number of start-up companies in the region is higher than the national average, and Kennispark – the science park – was crowned the Netherlands’ best business park for 2014.


The university’s collaboration with Overijssel Province, the city of Enschede, Saxion University of Applied Sciences and the region of Twente in the Kennispark Twente Foundation has generated phenomenal results over the years. The University of Twente has been extremely successful in a powerful actor in the area of valorisation. However, monitoring and evaluation progress in this area is not yet fully developed and the way it is implemented very much differs across universities. Monitoring valorisation at the various levels and units in the university is becoming a standard practice. Valorisation is regarded as part of the tasks of every scientist. Valorisation is an important core value within the University of Twente as well as in other universities in the Netherlands. Valorisation is the Dutch term for knowledge exchange, or “creating value from knowledge.” It is often referred to as the third mission of the university (Jongbloed & Zomer, 2011). This case study focuses on the aspect of valorisation and its measurement. The purpose of this paper is to describe the systems and tools in place at the University of Twente to monitor and evaluate the activities and performance in the area of supporting entrepreneurship, both in education and research. It has a strong track record of creating spin-off companies and providing support to entrepreneurial students and academics. It is regarded as one of the leaders in entrepreneurship and venturing. Since 1986, and long before any other Dutch university, the University of Twente has profiled itself as the entrepreneurial university. The second describes the various initiatives, units and activities in the university that are somehow connected to the goal of encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation.Įntrepreneurship is a major part of the university’s strategy. In the first of these, the organizational structure and some key characteristics of the university are presented.
