Over the past 10 years researchers have been increasingly expected to pass on their knowledge to the general public, put it to good use in society, or exploit it commercially. This form of expertise valorisation is now something the government actively requires from the academic community, and has become part of the innovation policy of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation.

At the presentation of his Letter to the Business Community ('Bedrijfslevenbrief') in Leiden this past September, minister Verhagen announced that researchers will be taking their work ‘from knowledge to skill to the till’. In an interview in the 'Leidsch Dagblad' in November 2011, Vice Rector Willem te Beest stated that monetary profit will not be the primary concern.

What are the prospects for social scientists who want to take their expertise to market?