Three o'clock joins VALLEYS: building the European network that connects research to real-world impact
Research changes the world, but only when it leaves the lab.
Across Europe, thousands of organisations work every day to bridge that gap: tech transfer offices, incubators, science parks, and innovation hubs that help turn scientific results into products, services, and policies that people actually use. Yet these intermediaries remain largely fragmented, unevenly skilled, and disconnected from one another. VALLEYS is here to change that.
Launched in May 2026 and funded under Horizon Europe, VALLEYS will create a pan-European network of at least 150 knowledge valorisation intermediaries from 25+ countries, connecting them, upskilling them, and giving them the tools to do their work better.
The project will deliver a free digital toolbox with four AI-powered tools covering IP management, partner matching, funding discovery, and proposal writing. It will also offer a comprehensive training programme including online courses, mentoring, and cross-border staff exchanges, alongside a small grants scheme to fund pilot projects across the network.
Our role: community builder and policy voice
Three o'clock is responsible for the design, governance, and day-to-day running of the European network. That means onboarding new member organisations, structuring five thematic working groups on IP, standardisation, industry-academia co-creation, citizen engagement, and policy, and ensuring the network functions as a genuinely participatory, inclusive space rather than a top-down structure.
We will also lead the project's policy communication workstream, producing policy briefs and visual policy products for EU-level bodies including the ERA Forum and DG RTD.
In the training programme, Three o'clock will deliver modules on citizen engagement and co-creation, introducing intermediaries and researchers to design thinking, collaborative R&D models, and other topics, methods that are often new to organisations whose expertise lies in the technical or scientific side of innovation.
Throughout all of this, we will apply our human-centred, participatory design approach to make sure the network reflects the real needs and realities of the people it serves.
Kickoff: Gran Canaria, May 2025
The project officially launched on 11–12 May at the Technology Park of Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. Partners gathered for an initial workshop to begin shaping the network's vision and governance — a first conversation about what this community of intermediaries should look like, and how it should work together.
For us, it was a reminder of something we believe deeply: the best structures are built with the people who will use them, not for them.
We're looking forward to building VALLEYS together.
Want to know more about our work in knowledge valorisation and community building? Get in touch → hello@threeoclock.co
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