Abstract
<p><strong>Purpose:</strong> Besides their educational and research functions, universities are currently essential for dissemination of knowledge in innovation processes, thus affecting the economic and social development of their environments. The formalized cooperation of the Slovak University of Agriculture (SUA) in Nitra and its partners in research and science was examined in this context.</p><p><strong>Methodology/Approach:</strong> Formal cooperation of the university with working life partners in terms of their sectoral and geographic affiliation was analyzed in the paper. The Central Register of Contracts and the SUA Internal Register of Contracts were used as principal sources of data. Based on interviews and selected studies conducted in the Slovak Republic we further focused on identification of barriers to the transfer of the results of research into practice.</p><p><strong>Findings:</strong> The paper confirmed cognitive and spatial proximity between SUA and its partners. The sectoral focus of the partners is closely related to the profile of the university. From the spatial point of view, more significant concentration of SUA partners in the region of Western Slovakia was confirmed. We identified several barriers to the transfer of the results of scientific research activities from the university environment into practical life.</p><p><strong>Research Limitation/implication:</strong> We conducted research on the example of one university, thus it is not possible to generalize the results.</p><strong>Originality/Value of paper:</strong> The paper analyzes the collaboration of the University in science and research with partners in practical life and identifies weaknesses and barriers to this cooperation.
Highlights
The Slovak University of Agriculture was founded in 1952. It is composed of six faculties: Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources (FAFR), Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences (FBFS), Faculty of Engineering (FE), Horticulture and Landscape Engineering Faculty (HLEF), Faculty of Economics and Management (FEM), and Faculty of European Studies and Regional Development (FESRD)
The faculties focused on natural sciences (FAFR, FBFS) cooperate mainly with agricultural subjects and related research institutions, and the technical faculty (FE) concludes cooperation contracts with subjects focused on manufacturing and follow-up activities
Even though authors agree on the statements “the scientific potential of universities is large” and “the cooperation between academic environment and business practitioners is inevitable”, the transfer of scientific results from academic environment to businesses comes across many barriers
Summary
In addition to the role of education and research, a university plays an important role in knowledge dissemination within the innovation process and influences the economic and social development of the territory.The concept of an innovation ecosystem has emerged in works of authors exploring the innovative environment at both macroeconomic and microeconomic level (Oh et al, 2016). Jackson (2011) defines an innovation ecosystem as a network of complex relationships formed between actors or institutions to enable innovation development.Various types of innovation ecosystems can be identified: the regional innovation ecosystem (Hudec, 2007; Žitek, Klimova and Kralova, 2016) urban innovation ecosystem (Cohen, Almirall and Chesbrough, 2016), the university innovation ecosystem (Graham, 2013) etc.Following the institutional approach to regional development, the university innovation ecosystem can be decomposed into the following elements: internal formal rules, internal human resources (students, researchers, transfer centre staff, academic entrepreneurs), external actors, relations between system actors and material resources of the system.The assumption that innovations arise from cooperation between universities, businesses and government (Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff, 2000), represented by actors at different territorial levels, is a basis of so called Triple helix concept (model). In addition to the role of education and research, a university plays an important role in knowledge dissemination within the innovation process and influences the economic and social development of the territory. Following the institutional approach to regional development, the university innovation ecosystem can be decomposed into the following elements: internal formal rules, internal human resources (students, researchers, transfer centre staff, academic entrepreneurs), external actors, relations between system actors and material resources of the system. The assumption that innovations arise from cooperation between universities, businesses and government (Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff, 2000), represented by actors at different territorial levels, is a basis of so called Triple helix concept (model). The model presents the roles that individual actors play in the innovation process: government’s role is policy making and innovation support, funding and advice; universities carry out research and development, establish and support incubators and spin-off firms.
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