Strengthening Knowledge Transfer Capacity in European Universities: The KTSoftSkills Project

The KTSoftSkills Project, coordinated by the University of Bologna through an Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership, addressed the need to strengthen soft and transversal competences among knowledge transfer professionals in higher education and research organisations. The initiative developed a structured training framework, self-assessment framework and toolkit focused on communication, negotiation, networking, collaboration and related skills that support effective university–industry engagement. Piloted across European partner contexts, the programme received positive participant feedback and exceeded its qualitative performance targets. Its modular resources, dissemination activities and online tools support wider adoption across different institutional contexts, while the pilot experience underlines the importance of interactive and face-to-face elements for soft skills development. The case illustrates how structured professional development can strengthen knowledge transfer capacity and contribute to more effective innovation ecosystems.