The Barcelona Deep Tech Summit saw the presentation of the second Joan Roget Awards for Knowledge Transfer, organised by the Ministry of Research and Universities through the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation. The Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) received an award in the Transfer Boost category; the PIKSEL project by the Numerical Methods in Engineering Centre (CIMNE) and the Generalitat de Catalunya Ministry of Territory were awarded the prize for the Best Collaborative R&D&I work; and the company OneChain received an award in the Transfer Success Story category.

These awards acknowledge actions in knowledge transfer, considered success stories in the Catalan research system, for their contribution to economic and social development. The aim is to highlight contributions by individuals, projects and organisations in terms of their ability to translate research into practical application, as well as the degree of connection with potential users of the research.

The VHIR received an award for the creation of its own innovation model, based on the principles of collaboration and entrepreneurship with an impact throughout the value chain. The VHIR used international best practices in health innovation (from the United States, Europe and Israel) as its benchmark.

The model includes an incubator for raising the value of and transferring innovative technologies and solutions, and an accelerator for the growth and scalability of investee companies and disruptive projects.

The VHIR currently manages 127 innovation projects, has created 6 spin-offs while participating in 4 more, and has 12 licences with start-ups and 7 asset licences with large pharmaceutical companies. It has also registered more than 60 new patents and has more than 30 new projects in its portfolio.