Patries Boekholt holds an MA in Political Science, Catholic University of Nijmegen with thesis on industrial policy (1987), a PhD, Aston Business School, UK, with a thesis on Innovation Policy in the European Community: reorienting towards diffusion (1995).

Patries Boekholt joined Technopolis in 1996 and is Director of Technopolis BV in the Netherlands. Her work is focused on science, technology and innovation policy at the regional, national and international level.  Part of this work relates to business competitiveness issues and the role of clusters in firm-to-firm technology transfer.  She has worked for clients in the Netherlands, Germany, Egypt, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, Belgium, Austria, UK, and the US, as well as for international organisations such as the European Commission, EUREKA, UNIDO and the OECD.  Before joining Technopolis she worked as a consultant for the TNO - Centre of Technology and Policy Studies, since 1989.