The Next Leap was founded and is edited by Thierry Heles.
It is both a news publication for knowledge exchange professionals and a media and data research consultancy for technology transfer offices, innovation units and university venture funds globally.
Thierry has been working in the university innovation space since 2014 and has spoken at industry-leading conferences such as AI@Oxford at the University of Oxford, London IP Week, the GCV Symposium and BI Foresight Live.
His research has helped shape policy decisions, and his work has been cited in influential reports, including the UK government’s Spinout Review and venture capital firm Atomico’s State of European Tech, as well as in respected publications such as the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, and fDi Intelligence.
Thierry was the editor of Global University Venturing from January 2016 to April 2024, and then served as editor-at-large until January 2025.
If you have a project that would benefit from Thierry’s expertise, you can connect on LinkedIn or email him.
Our Ethics
All of our articles are written in adherence with the Code of Conduct as published by the UK’s National Union of Journalists.
Furthermore, we maintain that AI-generated content has no place in journalism. As such, we promise never to use an LLM to generate or alter articles produced for this website or articles produced for clients.
If an article is pitched to us by external writers, including an opinion piece, and we become aware that it was generated using an LLM, we will either refuse publication or promptly remove it from our website with a statement explaining what happened.
We similarly maintain that AI cannot and must not replace artists. Therefore, we commit to never generating AI images for our articles or reports, whether they are produced for use on our website or for clients.
We do, however, recognise that certain AI tools can assist journalists.
As such, we explicitly permit the use of automated transcription software and translation services, of which we generally recommend locally-run models such as Firefox Translations.
We require all transcriptions to be checked for accuracy and, in all instances, encourage transcription using locally-run, open source tools, such as Whisper.cpp, to protect data privacy. In the case of sensitive information shared with us during an interview, we explicitly require the use of a local model.
The Podcast
The Next Leap produces an eponymous podcast: an interview show featuring thought leaders from university innovation ecosystems around the world.
These experts – such as tech transfer practitioners, investors, founders, and lawyers – share best practices around commercialising research, turning inventions into real-world products and services.
The first season has concluded, but season two is on the way!
Masthead
Founder/Editor: Thierry Heles
Graphic Designer: Jenna Clark (Skybear)
Podcast Composer: Alex White (Arpeggio Creative)
Production Supervisor: Roxie