FROM THE IDEA TO THE PROTOTYPE – That is the motto of the Leibniz-Institute for Plasma Science and Technology. The institute is Europe’s largest non-university research facility for low temperature plasma physics with its broad spectrum of applications for industry processes. Since a few years the institute is writing a success story, the budget rose from 2 M€ in the year 2004 to more than 12 M€ in 2011. However, a comprehensive SWOT analysis revealed mainly two fields of weakness, the one is lack of international co-operation, the other is a gap to the international state of the art knowledge of plasma diagnostics. Both weakness do interact and prevent the institute from being recognized as an institute of highest EU level. The aim of this project is to turn the existing weakness and threats into opportunities and strengths and thereby guarantee a sustainable development of the institute success not just for Europe, but also for the region and their economic development. Four coherent measures are planned to achieve this target:Twinning with partnering organisations to gather knowledgeInnovation capacity building measuresInvest to complement equipmentRecruitment of high level scientistsTechnology transfer will be promoted to strengthen the basis of spin-offs to create more high-level jobs in the region. Scientists in Greifswald will participate more actively in the ERA by the establishment of visible, personalised scientific networks. IP Knowledge will be secured, the handling of IP knowledge will base on professional structures and the innovation potential will be enhanced. Regional stakeholders, i.e. the Ministry for Education and Research, the Ministry for Economics, and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry will be actively involved in the project. The project will contribute to transform this convergence area to an effective plasma technology transfer area to help to exploit the full research potential in Europe.