Turning science into business: a case study of a major European research university

The 'entrepreneurial university' has become commonplace in debates about new ways of knowledge production and the changing relationships between university, industry and government. A rich literature has developed exploring outputs of such activity, most notably 'patenting', 'licensing', and 'spin-outs'. There is also an 'organisational' literature exploring the entrepreneurial transformation of universities. All too often these two streams of literature ignore each other. This paper aims to make a bridging contribution by exploring the case of Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). Is it necessary for universities to transform themselves into fully entrepreneurial organisations to contribute substantially in terms of economic development? The ULB case illustrates the potential for nurturing entrepreneurial activities locally as well as the possibilities and limitations of top-down actions instilling entrepreneurial culture among academic rank and file.