IIT research results are to a large extent a public asset which should be applied for society's use and benefit. By transferring knowledge and technologies to society and industry IIT’s contribution to the innovation process is further strengthened and generates income to support research and reward inventors.

IIT has obtained more than 15000 publications on international scientific journals since 2006 to December 2020 and produced more than 200 inventions, which have resulted in more than 1000 patent applications. The relevant expertise has already begun, over the years, to imbue the productive fabric. The overall portfolio of external projects has exceeded 354 million euros.

Scientific production is the main value taken into account to evaluate research quality. Usually this term refers to scientific papers published on peer-review journals, however IIT encourages further activities that overcome this definition. As strongly suggested by the European Commission (both in Horizon 2020 and the FP9 guidelines), researchers are also required to communicate scientific results at international congresses through invited talks and dissemination talks addressed to stakeholders and the general public. The Foundation encourages researches to follow the rules of Responsibile Research and Innovation (RRI) in order to attract new investors and increase people’s awareness about science and research development.

ERC grants are awarded through an open competition launched on projects headed by starting and/or established researchers, irrespective of their origins, who are working or moving to work in Europe. The sole selection criterion is scientific excellence. The aim here is to recognize the best ideas and confer status and visibility to the best brains in Europe while at the same time attracting talents from abroad. IIT currently secured 50 ERC grants.