As Chief Impact Officer, I am responsible for the knowledge transfer portfolio of the VU University Amsterdam. I report to the Executive Board, who entrusted me with this mandate.My office builds dynamic teams that tackle the cultural change we need to drive if we want to generate the social, environmental, and financial output that society demands from the academic sector. In the first two years, we have:- Designed and implemented a planning and control strategic framework to help the valorization boards of each faculty develop and monitor their impact plan. The framework is now a routine tool that creates common goals and mutual accountability on deliverables, aligning the services provided by the central administration to the needs of the faculties;- Developed a broad participatory decision making process that led the VU University Amsterdam to be the first university in the Netherlands and the second in the world to stop research collaborations with fossil fuel companies that cannot demonstrate commitment to Paris 2015. Our organization is now leading a broader discussion, at the national level, on the role of the academic community in shaping a sustainable future;- Designed and implemented the Impact Journey framework -- a broad program that brings the VU campus and all our stakeholders together in defining new ways to create impact together. The framework is now entering our routine operations, supporting the "dominant logic" of our organization;- Supported the (academic) entrepreneurship initiatives at the VU campus (DLAB, VU StartHub, Center for Entrepreneurship...), which are constantly delivering top-notch (student and staff) startups;- Proactively contributed to the development of the PanAmsterdam Impact & Entrepreneurship strategy, which focuses on (academic) entrepreneurship, AI, sustainability, and Life Science and Health. The four programs have now developed a detailed strategy, which is now implemented by dedicated operational teams.

I am a full professor in experimental physics at the VU University Amsterdam. I have (co-)authored more than 100 publications and have collected some 8 M€ in research funding (including 4 ERC grants - StG, CoG, x2 PoC). From 2016, in order to take on the new exciting roles that the VU University was challenging me with, I have started to transfer my research activities to a group of younger researchers and to limit my teaching contribution to a few entrepreneurship courses for STEM students - a process that I have completed when I accepted the position of Chief Impact Officer.

As Director of Valorization of the Faculty of Science, I took personal responsibility in identifying and removing the (latent) obstacles that were hampering the utilization of scientific results beyond the walls of our laboratories. With my collaborators, I designed and implemented a multi-year strategic program that could bring the third mission (knowledge transfer and co-creation) on the forefront of our researchers' activities, together with research and teaching. I advised the Dean on valorization and third mission, and, as representative of the faculty in the Impact Board of the VU University Amsterdam, I contributed to the implementation of the new strategic plan of the university.

Sixpointsix offers support to the tech-leaders of the future in their journey to success. The focus is on academic entrepreneurship, where, parallel to the usual obstacles of the startup/scaleup process, the team must work on their transformative path from science to business. We have been there; we have done that. Hence, whether you are operating within an accelerator, an incubator, a VC firm, a startup, or a scaleup, let's connect to see how we can team up to make that journey together.

In 2024, I started the training to become professional coach. As soon as I have reached a point where I could conduct a coaching session successfully, I opened Davide Iannuzzi Coaching Practice (an activity that I run via Sixpointsix). Since then, I have been coaching academics and entrepreneurs from different organizations and countries. And I love it!

I have started my entrepreneurial career in 2006, when I realized that one of my inventions could find application well beyond the experiment I had devised it for. From 2006 to 2011, I drove the entire technology transfer process, taking responsibility for intellectual property protection, technical development, and business planning. In 2011, supported by a compelling case gravitating around my invention, I co-founded a bootstrap company, which was incorporated under the name of Optics11. The company is now in the scale-up phase and delivers products all around the world.

I have started my entrepreneurial career in 2006, when I realized that one of my inventions could find application well beyond the experiment I had devised it for. From 2006 to 2011, I drove the entire technology transfer process, taking responsibility for intellectual property protection, technical development, and business planning. In 2011, supported by a compelling case gravitating around my invention, I co-founded a bootstrap company, which was incorporated under the name of Optics11. The company is now in the scale-up phase and delivers products all around the world.

The Demonstrator Lab is an entrepreneurship laboratory designed to foster the entrepreneurial spirit of students and staff of the VU University Amsterdam. For the first 5 years of operations, I have been responsible for the development of the initiative, the coordination of its activities, and the support of its projects.During this first period, the Demonstrator Lab has nurtured more than 100 idea-to-market projects, supporting more than 300 students and staff - most of which I have personally mentored; 24 of those projects have been translated into actual businesses during my directorship, among which Scitodate, Findest, Veridis, NextRound, CargoPlot, NewU, Fitsurance, Liion Power, MadGlove, BeyondWeather, and SPUN.