. "Appendix C. University-Industry Collaborations Discussed at the Workshop." Overcoming Barriers to Collaborative Research: Report of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 1999.
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Overcoming Barriers to Collaborative Research: Report of a Workshop
Appendix C University-Industry Collaborations Discussed at the Workshop
Partnership/Program
Type of Collaboration
Key Points
Amgen's collaboration with Sloan-Kettering, Max-Planck Institute, MIT, and other academic institutions
Ranges from sponsored research and student support to faculty consulting and focused collaboration on clinical trials.
• Valuing contributions is an issue: universities are trying to capture greater value but may be unrealistic.
• On some issues (delay of publication) there are standard practices that work; sometimes companies ask for more time to patent than they really need.
• Other issues include preventing conflicts of interest (in clinical trials) and restrictions placed on institutions by some non-profit sponsors.
Carnegie Mellon University's collaboration with industry, including the Data Storage Systems Center, collaboration with Caterpillar, and university-based start-ups
Includes an Engineering Research Center, master agreements, and start-ups in which the university owns equity.
• More inexperienced foreign-based companies are entering collaborations.
• More master agreements are required, with more difficult and complex negotiations.
• The management structure for master agreements is important.
• Complex interactions must be coordinated among university-managed incubators, tech transfer to start-ups, university equity ownership, and faculty entrepreneurs.
• Insights from collaboration do make it into the curriculum, often more quickly than people realize.
Biotechnology Research and Development Center (national consortium)
For-profit corporation with equity ownership by industry members. Commercializes Department of Agriculture-sponsored research
• Focus has gradually moved from discovery research to demonstration of feasibility on campus.
• Will give universities greater equity if they reduce indirect rates.
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Overcoming Barriers to Collaborative Research: Report of a Workshop
Appendix C
University-Industry Collaborations Discussed at the Workshop
Partnership/Program
Type of Collaboration
Key Points
Amgen's collaboration with Sloan-Kettering, Max-Planck Institute, MIT, and other academic institutions
Ranges from sponsored research and student support to faculty consulting and focused collaboration on clinical trials.
• Valuing contributions is an issue: universities are trying to capture greater value but may be unrealistic.
• On some issues (delay of publication) there are standard practices that work; sometimes companies ask for more time to patent than they really need.
• Other issues include preventing conflicts of interest (in clinical trials) and restrictions placed on institutions by some non-profit sponsors.
Carnegie Mellon University's collaboration with industry, including the Data Storage Systems Center, collaboration with Caterpillar, and university-based start-ups
Includes an Engineering Research Center, master agreements, and start-ups in which the university owns equity.
• More inexperienced foreign-based companies are entering collaborations.
• More master agreements are required, with more difficult and complex negotiations.
• The management structure for master agreements is important.
• Complex interactions must be coordinated among university-managed incubators, tech transfer to start-ups, university equity ownership, and faculty entrepreneurs.
• Insights from collaboration do make it into the curriculum, often more quickly than people realize.
Biotechnology Research and Development Center (national consortium)
For-profit corporation with equity ownership by industry members. Commercializes Department of Agriculture-sponsored research
• Focus has gradually moved from discovery research to demonstration of feasibility on campus.
• Will give universities greater equity if they reduce indirect rates.
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Overcoming Barriers to Collaborative Research: Report of a Workshop
Partnership/Program
Type of Collaboration
Key Points
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Incubator Program
University owns three buildings housing a number of start-ups, some coming out of the university, some spun off from larger companies.
• One of the oldest university-run incubators; high survival rate but no huge successes yet.
• Networking and collaboration are essential; alumni are potential "angel" investors.
• Emerging trend is to link university endowment or public venture capital firms with the incubator.
Optoelectronics Computing Systems Center
Engineering Research Center (ERC).
• ERC program was intended to create a new kind of student. This is happening, but more needs to be done to move insights into the curriculum.
• Some companies have caused management problems by pulling out funding at short notice or funding at lower than critical mass and demanding background rights.
• A general issue is that ERCs and Science and Technology Centers may promise more than can be delivered and become disconnected from the university. There are examples where the center played a positive role in breaking down disciplinary and other barriers on campus.
• This ERC has launched a number of start-up companies, helping to create a regional technology focus.
University of Utah, various collaborative projects
Start-ups generated by university research, sponsored research.
• Rules are needed to protect the institution, faculty, and students.
• In one case a company sponsors research by a faculty member who holds equity in the company. The university holds equity as well and has a broad licensing agreement. This sort of relationship can be difficult to manage.
• Can negotiate non-disclosure for longer than 60–90 days if no students are involved and non-tenured faculty members sign an agreement that they understand.
• Some private foundations are now imposing onerous intellectual property right provisions.
• Indirect costs simply cannot be negotiated away. Need to pay them somehow. Sometimes it is a matter of saying no to faculty members who insist that waiving them is needed to gain industry support.
• Demand for reach-through rights to inventions developed through use of university research materials can be a problem. The university wants the package to be of maximum use, but difficulties arise when industry wants a royalty-free license to the work of many individuals.
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Overcoming Barriers to Collaborative Research: Report of a Workshop
Partnership/Program
Type of Collaboration
Key Points
Real-Time Innovations
Start-up based on software developed at Stanford; used in robotics, space shuttle. Currently Stanford is a Real-Time Innovations subcontractor on an Advanced Technology Program contract.
• Company provides a platform for Stanford-developed tools to become more widely used.
• Patents on software do not generate much revenue; value is mainly defensive.
• Success based on long-term relationships, trust, understanding.
National Textile Center/University Research Consortium
Government-supported industry consortium that funds university research.
• Has brought together companies representing the entire value chain: Dow Chemical through Wal-Mart.
• Centered on a highly competitive global industry that does not receive much federal support.
• Encourages universities to focus on industry problems.
Akzo Corporate Research, collaborations with academia
Various forms of collaboration, including a project to remove toxic chromium from products involving Akzo, NASA labs, Drexel University, Polytechnic University, and Ohio State University.
• Chemical industry is focusing internal research on definite product goals; speculative work is done only in partnerships.
• Key factors are trust, good intellectual property provisions, and sufficient funding.
• University productivity goes down in proportion to time spent preparing the next proposal. Universities need a consistent liaison in the company.
• Funding must be committed for three years—the length of a dissertation.
• Companies see the benefit in attracting graduates as employees.
• Companies will go to overseas universities when conditions are favorable.
ARCH Development Corporation
Non-profit subsidiary of the University of Chicago aimed at commercializing inventions from the university and Argonne National Laboratory.
• To date, 20 companies have been launched. Income rising gradually with occasional spikes. Now self-supporting.
• Finding CEOs for the start-ups is an issue.
• Should tech transfer be handled in-house, by a non-profit subsidiary, or by a for-profit contractor? Some functions may need to be managed close to home.
Walt Disney Imagineering
Hiring students, engaging in some sponsored research.
• Interdisciplinary skill sets are increasingly important to the entertainment industry (e.g., computers and art).
• Better to walk away from a negotiation immediately rather than waste time when the chemistry is not right or trust is lacking.
