Recent National Science Board Studies in University-Industry

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Downloaded by UNIV OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA on April 10, 2018 | https://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: February 6, 1984 | doi: 10.1021/bk-1984-0244.ch006

Recent National Science Board Studies in University-Industry Research Relationships CARLOS E. KRUYTBOSCH National Science Board Committee on 14th Annual Report, Washington, DC 20550

These remarks will provide a b r i e f preview of some results from a major national f i e l d study commissioned as background material for the National Science Board 14th Annual Report, University-Industry Research Relationships: Myths, Realities and Potentials. The Board Report w i l l contain some h i s t o r i c a l considerations, a f a i r l y comprehensive data analysis of trends over the past 20 years, a discussion of the federal role, and a hypothesis about the future of university/industry relations. The report from the f i e l d study w i l l be published separately together with five other specially commissioned studies. The limited time available during this symposium permits presentation of only a few of the interesting s t a t i s t i c s generated i n the course of the f i e l d study, and it should be understood that they remain provisional u n t i l f i n a l publication of the study. During the f i e l d study interviews were conducted at a sample of forty universities and seventy companies. Over 400 instances of research relationships were identified and analysed. They included over a dozen types of relationships, and covered a wide range of s c i e n t i f i c and engineering disciplines as well as many industrial sectors. For each case the participants on both sides were queried concerning how the relationship came about, their expectations about it, the administrative and legal arrangements, the stumbling blocks, successes, failures, etc. One of the most interesting issues was the existence and nature of any prior connections between the academic and industrial partners i n a relationship. In about one-third of the 340 cases analyzed for this purpose a prior relationship between the parties had existed, and i n one quarter of the instances a prior consulting relationship was extant. Univers i t i e s should thus take note that consulting connections may well generate significant research support from industrial sources. 0097-6156/84/0244-0037506.00/0 © 1984 American Chemical Society Runser; Industrial-Academic Interfacing ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1984.


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Who i n i t i a t e s u n i v e r s i t y / i n d u s t r y r e l a t i o n s h i p s ? I t was q u i t e unexpected t h a t i n t w o - t h i r d s o f the cases the p a r t i c i p a n t s agreed t h a t the impetus f o r the connection came from t h e u n i v e r s i t y . Companies were seen as t a k i n g the l e a d i n o n l y about o n e - f i f t h o f the cases. The remainder o f the cases were seen as mutually i n i t i a t e d . I t i s worth n o t i n g t h a t one type o f r e l a t i o n s h i p d i d not e x h i b i t t h i s p a t t e r n o f i n i t i a t i o n . Cases o f "general research support" — p r i m a r i l y i n d u s t r i a l p h i l a n t h r o p i c g i f t s o f funds o r research equipment t o i n d i v i d u a l f a c u l t y members o r t o departments — were s l i g h t l y more l i k e l y t o be seen as i n i t i a t e d by companies than by the academics. A l s o , p r i o r r e l a t i o n s h i p s were l e s s i n evidence i n t h e case o f p h i l a n t h r o p i c g i f t s . Corporate and academic p a r t i c i p a n t s expressed r a t h e r d i f f e r e n t patterns of motivations f o r entering i n t o relationships. In over t h r e e - q u a r t e r s o f the corporate i n t e r v i e w s , the number one motive o f f e r e d f o r e n t e r i n g i n t o academic research r e l a t i o n s h i p s was personnel a c q u i s i t i o n o r r e c r u i t m e n t . Companies are c r e a t i n g o p p o r t u n i t i e s t o make e a r l y connections w i t h b r i g h t graduate students and f a c u l t y s c i e n t i s t s . T h i s i s e s p e c i a l l y important i n areas where t h e r e i s c u r r e n t l y f i e r c e r e c r u i t m e n t c o m p e t i t i o n between companies f o r the b e s t new s c i e n t i s t s and engineers. Two examples: one f r e s h Ph.D. i n computer s c i e n c e s t a r t e d a j o b w i t h a new company a t $90,000 a year - i n C a l i f o r n i a , o f course. F u r t h e r , new Ph.D. 's w i t h recombinant DNA e x p e r t i s e i n the p l a n t s c i e n c e s a r e s a i d t o c u r r e n t l y have t h e i r p i c k o f 30 job o f f e r s each. Personnel a c q u i s i t i o n has been h i s t o r i c a l l y important f o r c o r p o r a t i o n s and more research i s needed i n t o the p a t t e r n s o f h i r i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p s between p a r t i c u l a r c o r p o r a t i o n s and p a r t i c u l a r u n i v e r s i t y departments. The u n i v e r s i t y ' s p r i n c i p a l m o t i v a t i o n i s e a s i e r t o p r e d i c t — a need f o r new sources o f funds f o r research., student support, equipment, supplies,and the l i k e . The second most important aim expressed by those people i n t e r v i e w e d was, a window on new s c i e n c e and technology. T h i s was mentioned as a s i g n i f i c a n t m o t i v a t i o n i n about h a l f o f the cases. W h i l e the p r e f e r r e d mode o f r e l a t i o n s h i p f o r t h i s purpose remains fcy f a r the "one-on-one" grant o r c o n t r a c t connection, we are seeing an i n t e r e s t i n g i n c r e a s e i n the use o f c o l l e c t i v e r e s e a r c h arrangements between one u n i v e r s i t y u n i t and s e v e r a l c o r p o r a t i o n s . Examples are the new m i c r o e l e c t r o n i c s research

Runser; Industrial-Academic Interfacing ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1984.


6.

KRUYTBOSCH

Studies in University-Industry Research Relationships

c e n t e r s and the somewhat o l d e r c o o p e r a t i v e research centers i n a v a r i e t y o f f i e l d s o f s c i e n c e and e n g i n e e r i n g (many o f these l a t t e r r e c e i v e d i n i t i a l "seed money" support from F e d e r a l r e s e a r c h a g e n c i e s ) . F u r t h e r , f l e d g l i n g i n d u s t r y w i d e arrangements w i t h many u n i v e r s i t y u n i t s , such as the C o u n c i l f o r Chemi c a l Research and t h e Semiconductor Research Cooperative a r e an important new f e a t u r e o f the research landscape. These i n i t i a t i v e s have been encouraged by recent changes i n f e d e r a l r e g u l a t i o n s . A 1980 Department o f J u s t i c e p u b l i c a t i o n on the s u b j e c t helped t o c l a r i f y the a p p l i c a t i o n o f a n t i t r u s t laws t o such research cooperation. The Department o f Commerce i s c u r r e n t l y working on f u r t h e r f a c i l i t a t i n g measures. Two a d d i t i o n a l motives r a i s e d i n about t w o - f i f t h s o f the corpo r a t e i n t e r v i e w s were, g e n e r a l support o f t e c h n i c a l e x c e l l e n c e and g a i n i n g access t o u n i v e r s i t y f a c i l i t i e s , i n c l u d i n g opportu n i t i e s f o r education and t r a i n i n g , adjunct p r o f e s s o r s h i p s and p e r s o n a l exchange, and so on. I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g t h a t o n l y about one t e n t h o f the companies mentioned t h a t they became i n v o l v e d i n research i n t e r a c t i o n s w i t h u n i v e r s i t i e s i n order t o s o l v e a problem o r t o o b t a i n s p e c i f i c i n f o r m a t i o n u n a v a i l a b l e elsewhere. The second and t h i r d most f r e q u e n t l y mentioned academic motiva t i o n s , mentioned i n about a t h i r d o f the cases, focussed on t h e e d u c a t i o n a l i m p l i c a t i o n s o f the i n t e r a c t i o n s , i . e . , t h a t i n d u s t r y sponsored r e s e a r c h p r o v i d e s students w i t h exposure t o r e a l w o r l d research problems, thereby p r o v i d i n g b e t t e r t r a i n i n g f o r the i n c r e a s i n g numbers o f graduates o p t i n g f o r i n d u s t r i a l career. There were very i n t e r e s t i n g d i f f e r e n c e s i n t h e corporate and academic p e r c e p t i o n s o f problem areas i n the i n t e r a c t i o n process. I t should be s a i d t h a t the academics were a l o t more outspoken about problems and b a r r i e r s than t h e i r corporate o p p o s i t e numbers who tended t o be more circumspect. I n a l l o f the i n t e r v i e w s a t u n i v e r s i t i e s , p a t e n t s , l i c e n s i n g , p r o p r i e t a r y r i g h t s and p r e p u b l i c a t i o n review were p e r c e i v e d as problems o r b a r r i e r s i n t h e i r r e l a t i o n s w i t h i n d u s t r y . I n about f o u r - f i f t h s o f the cases the academics mentioned as problems i n s t i t u t i o n a l d i f f e r e n c e s i n o b j e c t i v e s and g o a l s , a d m i n i s t r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e s and time frames. About o n e - t h i r d o f the academics mentioned p e r s o n a l a t t i t u d e s as a b a r r i e r . From t h e corporate p e r s p e c t i v e the b i g g e s t problems l a y i n i n s t i t u t i o n a l d i f f e r e n c e s — mentioned i n about h a l f o f the cases. About t w o - f i f t h s o f the corporate managers saw p r o p r i e t a r y r i g h t s and p r e p u b l i c a t i o n review as g e n e r a t i n g problems i n r e l a t i o n s h i p s . S u r p r i s i n g l y enough, d i f f i c u l t i e s i n a r r i v i n g a t patent and l i c e n s i n g arrangements were mentioned i n o n l y one-


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f i f t h o f the corporate i n t e r v i e w s . T h i s was about on par w i t h the o n e - f i f t h t h a t mentioned geographical d i s t a n c e as p o s i n g problems. The f i e l d study r e p o r t w i l l c o n t a i n data on patent and prepubl i c a t i o n review p o l i c i e s and p r a c t i s e s a t about 40 campuses as o f mid-1981. T h i s i s , o f course, a r a p i d l y changing scene as u n i v e r s i t i e s pay more a t t e n t i o n t o these matters. The r e p o r t w i l l a l s o d i s p l a y some data on patent income f o r a subset o f 20 u n i v e r s i t i e s which suggests t h a t such income, w h i l e r e l a t i v e l y s m a l l , may be i n c r e a s i n g . I n c o n c l u s i o n , a s t r o n g message emerges from these m a t e r i a l s t h a t u n i v e r s i t y - i n d u s t r y connections i n v o l v e webs o f r e l a t i o n s h i p s o f d i f f e r e n t k i n d s . They a r e r a r e l y one-shot i n nature. These r e l a t i o n s h i p s a r e a l s o h i s t o r i c a l and s e q u e n t i a l . C e r t a i n campuses and companies have over the y e a r s developed e s p e c i a l l y c l o s e r e l a t i o n s i n the recruitment o f graduates. Thus the upper ranks o f management i n these companies c o n t a i n h i g h p r o p o r t i o n s o f alumni from p a r t i c u l a r campuses. F u r t h e r , the companies a r e l i k e l y t o be w e l l represented on the u n i v e r s i t y board o f t r u s t ees. As mentioned above, these p a t t e r n s deserve much c l o s e r study. I t can be hypothesized t h a t t h e formal r e l a t i o n s h i p flows from the i n f o r m a l c o n t a c t : t h a t one type o f i n t e r a c t i o n generates another r e l a t i o n s h i p . For example, the f o l l o w i n g c h a r a c t e r i z e s a frequently occurring scenario. A company wants t e c h n i c a l o r s c i e n t i f i c advice, perhaps concerning i t s own research program, and seeks out a p r o f e s s o r as a c r e d i b l e c o n s u l t a n t . While p r o v i d i n g the e x p e r t i s e the p r o f e s s o r observes o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r research, and he o r she n e g o t i a t e s a research grant o r c o n t r a c t . I n t h i s phase o f the r e l a t i o n s h i p the i n i t i a t i v e i s seen as coming from t h e p r o f e s s o r . The p r o f e s s o r ' s research proceeds apace and the company t r a c k s i t and p o s s i b l y u t i l i z e s i t . But the (company w i l l be sure t o be t r a c k i n g the b r i g h t young graduate students working on t h e p r o j e c t . I t may o f f e r them summer jobs i n the company, o r even support f o r p o s t d o c t o r a l work. I t may r e c r u i t some o f them f o r permanent jobs. With the former students now i n the company, the web o f c o n t a c t s thus becomes denser, and the c y c l e may be repeated i n f u t u r e years. I t i s worth n o t i n g t h a t c o r p o r a t i o n s are becoming i n c r e a s i n g l y aware o f these webs o f r e l a t i o n s h i p s . They are beginning t o develop comprehensive t r a c k i n g systems i n order b e t t e r t o understand and i n t e g r a t e t h e i r p h i l a n t h r o p i c and t h e i r research grant and c o n t r a c t r e l a t i o n s h i p s w i t h u n i v e r s i t i e s . RECEIVED

June 13, 1983


Recent National Science Board Studies in University-Industry

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