Capabilities and knowledge transfer: evidence from a university research center in the health area in Mexico

Resumen

This work aims to contribute to the study of university-business linkages, focusing on the processes of generation and transfer of knowledge. The objective is to show the role of the scientific and inventive capabilities generated in the universities, in order to understand how an effective linkage between them and the companies can be fostered to create and develop innovative products through the transfer of technology.We analyze the experience of the Institute of Biomedical Research of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (IBR-UNAM). This institute is a university research center (URC) that in the Mexican context stands out for its relevant generation of scientific and inventive capabilities. It is shown that for the knowledge created in the universities to be transferred to generate new products and/or marketable processes, the efforts of educational and research institutions and the interface units are crucial, as well as the existence of entrepreneurial companies that include innovation as a central factor in their business strategy, capable of identifying and using capabilities generated within universities and public research centers.