Achievement Overview

Achieving RTTP status

To achieve RTTP status, candidates must be able to demonstrate that they have applied their knowledge and skills by leading a complex knowledge transfer project between the research base and business or community organizations (i.e. between a research organization/ university and an independent private sector organization, government agency or other community body).

This is achieved by submitting an Achievement Overview.

This is an approximate 1000 word (English language) written statement describing a significant, complex outcome between the research base and business/ community organizations which you led and that would not have happened without your input. The Achievement Overview describes how you managed the project/ initiative from beginning to end, often over many months and several phases, the key contributions and decisions you made and the project outcome.

This statement must be endorsed by your manager.

The essential point in the Achievement Overview is to identify the value that you personally added through the project – clearly differentiating activity from outcome. Therefore, the case needs to have matured sufficiently to demonstrate whether value has indeed been added by the candidate.

The Achievement Overview is assessed by a Review Panel comprised of highly experienced Knowledge and Technology Transfer professionals with first-hand experience in a wide diversity of cases and experience managing a variety of functions. They are seeking evidence that the applicant has been able to apply their skills and experiences to leading a sufficiently challenging case and in so doing have demonstrated that they have met the RTTP core competencies.

Types of projects or contributions

The Achievement Overview can describe either:

• A complex and significant collaboration/ strategic partnership, which would not have happened without your input and which met the intended goals of the parties.
• A complex and significant commercial deal which would not have happened without your input (e.g. licensing; substantial consultancy/ contract research arrangement(s)); the creation of a spin-out company which you actively led through its pre-investment phase and that subsequently raised external funding, made an impact in its market or generated value for its shareholders.
• A significant knowledge transfer initiative which you led and would not have happened without your input and that resulted in new capacity, structures, funding, incentives or other developments that enabled demonstrable knowledge transfer/ knowledge exchange outcomes.
• Sustained Leadership of KE/KT/TT activity over a number of years, leading a team(s) which has delivered significant KE/KT/ TT outcomes due to the specialist knowledge, skills and experience provided by your leadership.

Items to include

The Achievement Overview should include the background on the project and the ‘impact’ you had on the outcome. As part of the submission we also require supporting information from your direct supervisor and your partner to confirm what you describe.

The overview should be in sufficient detail for the Panel to accurately assess your achievement and your role in managing the project(s) and the extent to which the project(s) have enabled you to demonstrate the Core Competencies required for RTTP.

We suggest you should structure your Achievement Overview so that it covers the following points outlined on the Contents of an Achievement Overview, keeping in mind the type of Achievement you are describing.

A good Achievement Overview demonstrates that you have applied RTTP Core Competencies in the sourcing, development and successful delivery of the project/ initiative.

The impact of your contribution

The Review Panel comprises highly experienced Knowledge and Technology Transfer professionals with first-hand experience in a wide diversity of cases and experience managing a variety of functions. They are seeking evidence that the applicant has been able to apply their skills and experiences to a sufficiently challenging case and that this demonstrates that they have met the RTTP core competencies.

We must be able to understand what the outcome was – i.e. the result of your efforts – for example new products, new investment, new people engaged, income/ profits, impacts on society.

We are looking for external validation of the success of a project. The only real way to prove that is through engagement, commitment or investment of resources by an external partner; investment by a venture fund or other external commercial funder; generation of new customers and revenues or a documented change in society.

Investment in the project by your organisation, or by initiatives established within and/or managed by your organisation e.g. forming a company using internal funds via an incubator or Proof of Concept fund wholly controlled by your organisation, does not in itself provide sufficient external validation.

Common reasons resubmission of an Achievement Overview is requested:

• The applicant’s role in the case was unclear – we couldn’t tell what they were specifically responsible for and which parts of the activity they had led
• The account does not reflect the complexity of the case – it is listed as a series of events that follow each other almost mechanistically with no sense of the initiating, proactive and leading role that the applicant played in resolving complex issues that arose along the way leading to outcomes that had demonstrable impact/investment.
• The applicant chose to describe a number of cases – giving very little detail of each
• The case described lacked sufficient complexity or impact
• The Achievement Overview was not written in English (The candidate will not be penalised for less than perfect English, provided that the Achievement Overview can be understood).

Confidentiality

ATTP Review Panelists are bound by confidentiality; however, we generally do not need to know the confidential elements of a deal. Should the ATTP panel desire to publish information about your case, we will seek permission formally before doing so.