IntroductionThe global economy faces significant challenges: rising unemployment with low or no economic growth (GFmag.com, 2014). In this economic context, the demand for the use of highly specialized knowledge is limited. Especially for those who have a doctorate, the employment situation is even less optimistic, although obtaining such a degree usually requires a lot of time and effort. One factor is that the skills of “PhDs” are so specialized that they have difficulty competing for jobs outside of academia. In fact, even within the academic field, there are still insufficient jobs for them. Now more than ever it is necessary for doctoral students to understand the situation and at the same time expand their horizons from the laboratory bench to the market. The concept of “knowledge-based economy”, proposed by (Foray & Lundvall, 1998), has been described as “An economy that derives its primary value from knowledge and knowledge management: a key objective of the Union strategy European Union for sustainable growth and full employment". (European_Commission, 2013). Before the proposal of this concept, in fact, universities were no longer just the center of knowledge production and the communities of academies. The interaction between universities and industry has been established since the 1990s (Henry Etzkowitz, 1997; B. Martin & Etzkowitz, 2000; BR Martin, 2012). Universities are playing an increasingly important role towards the development of innovation. And the understanding of the innovation process, together with social progress, is now beyond traditional linear models (Deakins & Freel, 2003). Innovation is described as a phenomenon of systemic interaction, on which the cooperation of three institutional fields... half of the article... promotes the commercialization of university knowledge. Technovation, 26(4), 518-533. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2004.11.005 Rasmussen, Einar, Mosey, Simon, & Wright, Mike. (2014). The influence of university departments on the evolution of entrepreneurial skills in spin-off companies. Research Policy, 43(1), 92-106. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2013.06.007 Scott, W. Richard. (2008). Institutions and organizations: Ideas and interests (3rd ed.). Los Angeles: Sage Publications.Slaughter, Sheila A. and Leslie, Larry L. (1999). Academic capitalism: politics, policies and the entrepreneurial university. Baltimore, Maryland; London: Johns Hopkins University Press.Triple_Helix_Conference. (2011). from http://www.triplehelixconference.org/th/11/WIPO. (2014). World Intellectual Property Organization. from http://www.wipo.int/portal/en/