UBT Research and Innovation
The importance of a knowledge society to Kosovo’s future economic prosperity is well established at national policy levels. The College’s research strategy is designed to support the creation of a knowledge society by working with firms and public sector agents in building the appropriate infrastructure to build centers of research, development and innovation that will be unique for Kosovo and which will be capable of attracting resources at local and international levels. To achieve this research strategy has proritized and invest in establishing centres of research, stimulate the development of research and cluster activities to maximize opportunities for research groups to create appropriate critical mass, enhanced relationships and partnerships with stakeholders in industry, academia and the public sector to increase combined research capacity and strengthen the commercialization process, fostereed mechanisms of technology and knowledge transfer both out of an into the College and created an integrated research and studies quality assurance framework compliant with international best practices.
The UBT research policy is to foster a research culture and support a research continuum from blue skies research to commercialization. The College’s model for structuring research within the institution is by dividing it into four groups: research centre, interdisciplinary research clusters, research groups and self-tasked researcher. In addition to the research centres, UBT has also established a number of research clusters. The clusters are loose mechanisms of staff with common research interests. They shall be transdiciplinary research groups focusing on areas of strategic importance. The long-term objective is to have these clusters gradually evolve into centres of research.
These issues have led the College to create strategic themes for knowledge transfer. Over the period of the first cycle of the Strategic Plan, the research infrastructure will be developed and enhanced further through the appointment of a relevant staff. This will enable the College to more actively capture, professionalise the delivery of technology to industry, support spin-outs and broaden its routes to commercialization. In line with these priorities, the College will create forums where academic and business professionals can interact, provide programmes of industry-focused services, including consultancy, industry training, joint academic industry partnerships and industry placements.
The institution contributes and will continue to contribute to research on a wide variety of questions. The specific topics in our collective research portfolio at any point in time reflect dynamic decision-making by individuals and groups of researchers attempting to make the best use of their expertise, creativity and available opportunities. Nevertheless we share a collective strategic commitment to research that encompasses a number of broad themes. The following strategic themes summarize briefly the commitments made explicit in greater detail as emerging and integrative areas of excellence within the plan