INCENTiM, is a research division of LRD (KU Leuven Research and Development) and stands for International Centre for Research on Enterpreneurship, Technology and Innovation Management. It was founded in 1989 by Prof. K. Debackere, Prof. R. Veugelers and Prof. L. Sleuwaegen. Since 2001, Prof. B. Van Looy is responsible for the daily operations of INCENTiM. The centre is part of the Department of Managerial Economics, Strategy and Innovation (MSI), Faculty of Economics & Business, KU Leuven.
In close cooperation with industrial partners and public agencies, INCENTiM specializes in basic and applied research in the following areas: Innovation Management, Entrepreneurship and Science & Technology Policy Studies. Researchers at the centre have backgrounds in Economics, Management, Social Sciences and/or Engineering, enabling for a variety of methodological and conceptual perspectives. Research at the department spans the domains of managerial economics, industrial organization, international business, innovation economics and management, political economy, and entrepreneurship.
INCENTiM has extensive experience in innovation management, knowledge intensive entrepreneurship and technology indicators, including science-technology linkages and the implementation of text mining techniques on patent and publication data for domain delineation. It has been involved in various research projects for the Flemish government (AWI), Belgian government (DWTC) and European Commission (DG Research).
INCENTiM is the driving force behind the annual Summer School for Data & Algorithms on Science, Technology & Innovation Studies (ST&I). The event was launched in 2016 as an informal event for a target group of scholars interested in the use of (big) data and algorithms within the ST&I domain. Since its start, the event has gained international recognition with keynote presentations of renowned experts in the field. The event’s organization proceeds in close collaboration with EPO (the European Patent Office) and enjoys the support of sponsors and hosting institutions abroad. We believe in maintaining an informal atmosphere and a free-of-charge policy to encourage broad participation.