Thanks to the activities of the team appointed by the Rector, prof. Piotr Stepnowski, it is now possible to conduct commercial activities in university buildings. In the long term, this means, among other things, running full-time and part-time studies for a fee, organising refresher courses and specialised training, as well as the possibility of renting space on the UG campus, including the opening of catering outlets and photocopying facilities there, or carrying out commissioned research on UG research infrastructure.

The UG infrastructure management system was developed at the university in connection with the expiry of the durability periods of individual investment projects and obtaining the necessary tax interpretations; it is the final element of the University of Gdańsk's new approach to cooperation with the socio-economic environment.

 In 2023, procedures and tools have been implemented to ensure a safe space for commercialisation:

• a new formula for the cooperation of university units responsible for relations with external stakeholders (including the Office for Cooperation and Development, the Office for Analysis and Expertise, the Centre for Technology Transfer, the Centre for Sustainable Development and others) has been developed, aiming at a synergy of activities;
• a Conflict of Interest Policy has been implemented at the UG;
• principles of inter-institutional partnerships have been defined.

A University Research Services Laboratory was also established, responsible for coordinating commercial assignments at UG requiring specialised research infrastructure. The university's innovative approach to cooperation with the environment was presented during the Rector's December meeting with representatives of the university's strategic partners.

partnerów uczelni.

According to EU regulations, an infrastructure project is subject to a durability period, i.e. fixed assets purchased under the project cannot be used for purposes other than those declared in the application for funding and the project feasibility study for the entire period specified in the project funding agreement.

Completion of the durability periods of major university infrastructure projects of UG (including buildings of the Faculties of Chemistry and Biology, the Institute of Biotechnology and the Faculty of Philology - Neophilology) financed from the funds of the Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment 2007-2013 and the Regional Operational Programme for the Pomeranian Voivodeship 2007-2013, as well as obtaining the necessary VAT interpretations, made it possible to expand the offer of commercial services provided using the above buildings, which allows them to realise their full potential. According to Article 26(7) of Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014, ‘where a research infrastructure receives public funding for both economic and non-economic activities, Member States shall put in place a monitoring and claw-back mechanism in order to ensure that the applicable aid intensity is not exceeded as a result of an increase in the share of economic activities compared to the situation envisaged at the time of awarding the aid.'

On January 1, 2024, amendments to the University of Gdańsk's Rector's orders on the monitoring system for the performance of infrastructure financed by the Infrastructure and Environment Operational Programme 2007-2013 and the Regional Operational Programme for the Pomeranian Voivodeship 2007-2013 related to the conduct of commercial activities exempt from VAT came into force at the University of Gdańsk. In addition to the previously conducted auxiliary activities exempt from taxation, related to education, including conducting paid full-time and part-time studies, organising refresher courses, specialised training courses and conferences without the participation of sponsors, it will be possible to carry out new types of commercial activities within the framework of the established infrastructure, such as:

• providing research services - carrying out commissioned research for external entities
• long-term rental of space, e.g. for the purposes of catering, drinks and snack vending machines, photocopying facilities, improving the quality of work and study in the released infrastructure, 
• short-term rental of premises, e.g. for commercial conferences with sponsors.

‘For EU-funded projects, regulations require the University to monitor infrastructure purchased with public funds. This situation required implementing system solutions enabling comprehensive management of the University of Gdańsk's assets and fulfilment of obligations arising from the regulations,' says Head of the Marketing Department at the Faculty of Management of the University of Gdańsk, dr hab. Robert Bęben, prof. UG, author of the methodology determining the expected level of use of the created infrastructure, member of the working team working on the preparation of the System - In this situation, it became necessary to design and implement an IT tool enabling the monitoring of the level of use of the infrastructure while taking into account the various restrictions resulting from the financing of individual assets. The challenge was to use and correlate information from the university's existing databases in the System. The System is highly useful for the day-to-day operations of the university. It allows a number of processes to be streamlined, including stocktaking of premises, apparatus and equipment, automation of space management, management of scientific, investment and educational projects, including transferring the project management process to the Employee Portal (electronic project report card, unified and shared project register).

The system will enable the creation of a kind of virtual map of the university campus based on all available infrastructure. ‘So far, only the infrastructure used for education-related activities has been monitored. The IT system being implemented will allow separate monitoring of the level of utilisation of individual fixed assets for commissioned research and space rental, ensuring compliance with EU requirements not to exceed 20% of the total annual capacity of the infrastructure for commercial auxiliary activities, while also enabling ongoing verification of whether a given piece of equipment is approved for commercialisation,' says Monika Adamczuk, Director of the Office of Cooperation and Development, a member of the working team working on the preparation of the System.

To date, there have been no solutions on the market that would enable monitoring the level of utilisation of the university's total infrastructure capacity. Such a system had to be designed and built from scratch.

‘We are very pleased that the University of Gdańsk's know-how and the competencies of our employees, who are most familiar with the specifics of the university's operation, have led to the creation of a universal and proprietary tool that will be useful in the daily work of various organisational units at the University of Gdańsk. Forty university employees worked on the system's development and implementation, for which we would like to thank them,’  emphasises the Vice-Rector for Cooperation and Development, dr hab. Sylwia Mrozowska, prof. UG.

Jan Pietruszewski, creator of the IT system from the IT Section of the Faculty of Management, talks about additional advantages of the System: ‘The developed IT system can be applied to the entire infrastructure of the University (building and apparatus). It is based on data collected in existing UG IT systems, so updates are made in real-time. The system allows devices to be linked to rooms, facilitating stocktaking and monitoring. In addition, its architecture allows for expansion depending on the needs reported by the University Authorities. It standardises the presentation of the UG's service offer, the principles of valuation of services and the commercialisation process in various departments (e.g. bookings, acceptances).’

Training on the use of the software, which will be organised by the Cooperation and Development Office (responsible for implementing the UG Infrastructure Management System), is planned for the near future.