Research Teams and Partnerships Trends in the Chemical Sciences, Report of a Workshop (1999) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
3 University-Industry Strategic Alliance: A British Perspective
3 University-Industry Strategic Alliance: A British Perspective
Pages 28-37
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 28... ...
However, it must be recognized that making such strategic alliances work successfully can be a difficult process requiring universities to establish new practices and methods of organization to take advantage of the industrial funding of research which will become increasingly important in the future. INTRODUCTION In this chapter we necessarily write from the perspective of a university with the highest research income in the United Kingdom and one with a relatively small endowment.
|
From page 29... ...
The United Kingdom, in particular, has experienced this change, and it has culminated in the introduction of student fees payable by individual students from the United Kingdom and even higher fees for overseas students. At Imperial College the transition has been such that, in place of 85 percent of the costs of the university being met by governmental direct funding, the figure is now below 40 percent, as illustrated by Figure 3.1, and has not been matched by an increase in the sums available competitively for research funding from government agencies.
|
From page 30... ...
The environment in which universities operate has also been modified as a result of other government policies. Attempts to increase the fraction of the population engaged in higher education in the United Kingdom from 25 percent to 40 percent has shifted the focus from research-based universities to Other Sources Overseas Bodies 2% 8% \ ....
|
From page 31... ...
GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES One recent initiative has recognized the relative lack of a venture capital market within the United Kingdom and thus the government has organized a competition for seed capital funds for universities. The successful universities have been granted a capital fund, which is simply constrained to developing the intellectual property they own.
|
From page 32... ...
An important element of this increasingly professional approach to research management has been the desire to evaluate the full costs of all activities, including research. Imperial College has been at the forefront of this activity-costing exercise in the United Kingdom and has aggressively pursued policies of the full funding of research by all sponsors.
|
From page 33... ...
Our industrial links with several multinational companies across disciplines and national boundaries allow our students to work outside of the United Kingdom on internships or projects benefiting themselves and their future employers, whether they be the project sponsors or not. It might also be said here that the development of strategic alliances between universities in several countries with some of the same purposes in mind cannot be far away.
|
From page 34... ...
The alliance provides ready-made partners for collaborative ventures in which the sums of money invested by the company in the university enable other funds to come from the government and, in the European context, intergovernmental funding that makes use of the multinational nature of the industrial partner. AN EXAMPLE OF AN ALLIANCE Among the strongest alliances that Imperial College has established to date is that with Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., a company operating in a number of sectors throughout the world.
|
From page 35... ...
Furthermore, because some government schemes reward industry-supported work with a blue-skies grant, there is a further stimulus to independent, innovative work. ~ , ~ CONCLUSIONS The reduction of centralized governmental funding for universities within Europe, and the United Kingdom in particular, has altered the relationship between industry and higher education institutions.
|
From page 36... ...
In a test case at one of our universities, an individual member of the faculty did a consulting job, got the wrong answer, was sued by the company for getting the wrong answer, and the university was found liable even though the faculty member never used the university note paper, telephone, or anything. This is a dangerous precedent.
|
From page 37... ...
Regarding your second question on who initiates strategic alliances, it can be either from the faculty up or management down. In the case of Air Products, it took place because one of our alumni was a vice president of research at Air Products and suggested that it would be a good idea to get back together at Imperial College.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.