University-industry Interactions Research Articles

University-Industry Interaction as an Element of the University’s «Third Mission»

In the context of the transformation of education, characterized by the rapid obsolescence of knowledge, the increasing role of technological and social innovations, the globalization of the economy and education, it is becoming increasingly important to ensure successful cooperation between universities and business. At the same time, the state gains an advantage due to the rapid transfer of new knowledge, research and innovation, enterprises and organizations increase opportunities for effective development.The aim of the study is to identify the most successful forms of interaction between educational organizations and enterprises, the mechanisms of influence of the University on the development of the region of its location, participation in socio-economic processes. The problem is considered through the prism of the concept of the “third mission” for universities, which involves active interaction of educational organizations with society, including employers. Besides, the authors use the provisions of the theory of stakeholders, which describes the parameters taking into account the interests of various actors in the process of University management.On the example of the Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov, the article analyzes the existing experience and successful practices of organizing such interaction, as well as the emerging problems. The information base of the study was a survey on the satisfaction of employers with the quality of University graduates’ training, conducted in SAFU in 2019.As findings, the article states the main systemic problems of interaction between universities and the sphere of production such as the lack of coordinated strategies for training in various specialties, discrepancies in understanding the sets of competencies and skills of graduates, the fragmented university-industry interaction in research and development areas, different motivations and values.The authors come to a conclusion that the University must undergo a path of transformation to ensure strategic interaction with business and industry, including the development of a common “entrepreneurial” culture in the team, as well as the expansion of interaction with public institutions and socio-economic actors in the framework of the “third mission”.

From Local Academic Spin-Off to International Firm: The Case of VisLab

Universities play an important role in developing and transferring technology. In Italy, much innovation takes place where universities are located outside large towns, as in the case of VisLab. 
 
 VisLab, the Vision and Intelligent Systems Laboratory, founded by Prof. Alberto Broggi of Parma University, is a pioneer in perception systems and autonomous vehicle research. It is also the spin-off of the University of Parma acquired by Silicon Valley company Ambarella Inc., in July 2015 for $30 million. After the deal, VisLab remained in Italy and all the staff, about thirty researchers, were hired by VisLab for the Parma location. 
 
 This paper examines the university-industry interaction and, in particular, academic spin-off, as a source of economic growth, pointing out the importance of the context. The study describes the main characteristics of the VisLab case, including the possible alternative strategies, the structure of the final M&A deal and the advantages deriving from Parma and surrounding area.
 
 Despite, or perhaps because of its originality, the VisLab case seems to confirm the rule. It suggests that universities can play a key role in technology transfer: universities provide knowledge and trained personnel to firms, facilitating interaction between research and industry. Thus, policy makers should promote the commercialisation of research outcomes.

University–industry interactions in the Sultanate of Oman: Challenges and opportunities

University–industry (U–I) interactions are increasingly seen as critical components of national innovation systems and for building knowledge economies in developed and developing countries alike. Considering the Triple Helix (TH) model of innovation and the university–business cooperation framework, we report the results of a study on the current state of and barriers to U–I interactions in Oman. The study is based on a qualitative review of published higher education institute (HEI) quality audit reports and questionnaire surveys of HEIs and industry. It is suggested that Oman’s innovation system is currently based on the ‘statist’ model with some initiatives taking place to transition it towards the ‘integrated’ TH model. The results show that U–I interactions are mainly education-related, with limited emphasis on research and valorisation activities. Barriers identified include initiation and awareness constraints, limited funding, internal organisational culture and structure and industry’s limited absorptive capacity.

Exploratory analysis of university-industry interactions: the case of Nigerian oil sector

This paper examines the extent and nature of interaction between the university and firms in the Nigerian oil sector. The study through the use of questionnaire elicits information from 150 indigenous oil firms operating at the upstream sub-sector of the industry. Path analysis and correlation analysis were used to determine the weights and the significant impact of the industrial relationship with the university. The result revealed that there is a low level of interactions between the indigenous firms in oil industry and university in Nigeria. The outcome of this study further showed that engagement of academic staff in project/consultancy, joint research between university and oil industry, attendance of training program/workshops and student internship are found to have more effect in contributing to university-industry interactions; and these factors are positively and statistically significant to university-industry interaction. However, while licensing of university held patents and the use of university laboratory have weak correlations to university-industry interaction, path analysis further showed that the use of university laboratory was not statistically significant to university-industry interactions.

Exploratory analysis of university-industry interactions: the case of Nigerian oil sector

Exploratory analysis of university-industry interactions: the case of Nigerian oil sector

Does the Location in a Science and Technology Park Influence University - Industry Relationships?

This article investigates the role of firm location and absorptive capacities in university-industry interactions. It observes firms in Science and Technology Parks (STPs) and other spaces of a regional innovation system. It focuses on the effects that location has in establishing diversified interactions, in comparison with other firm traits usually associated to drawing from universities. It also provides evidence on the importance of certain qualities of space, including closeness to universities and existence of institutions specialized on knowledge transfer services. The empirical basis is a face-to-face survey to 737 firms in the regional innovation system of Andalusia, Spain. Descriptive analysis and regression models have been used in order to detect specific influences on five key dimensions of knowledge transfer. The results show that being located in a STP has an influence only on developing informal contacts and human resources training. In contrast, other characteristics related to the absorptive capacities of the firm have an influence on engaging in R&D collaboration and commercialization. The conclusions and policy implications suggest that both the kind of firms and the interface institutions located in a STP make a difference when promoting knowledge transfer with local universities.

The relationship between interdisciplinarity and distinct modes of university-industry interaction

Interdisciplinary research (IDR) has raised increasing expectations among scholars and policymakers about its potential to produce ground-breaking scientific contributions and satisfy societal demands. While existing research highlights that novel connections across fields is beneficial for scientific contributions with high academic impact, comparatively less is known about whether IDR is positively associated to scientists’ engagement with non-academic actors. To investigate this, we examine whether there is a systematic relationship between scientists’ IDR-orientation and their interactions with industry. We conceptually distinguish four stylized modes of interaction (firm creation, technology transfer, co-production and response modes) and employ three distinct indicators of IDR. We use data on 1,170 scientists affiliated to public research organizations in Spain, bibliometric dataset of scientists’ publications, and details of scientists’ past involvement in interactions with industry. Our results show that IDR has a transversal influence on all four modes. However, IDR-oriented scientists are more strongly associated to transactional (market-mediated) compared to relational (personal-based) interaction mechanisms; while we find no evidence of a significant difference between IDR-oriented scientists and their propensity to engage in different modes of U-I interaction according to the degree of goal specificity.

University-industry interaction and product innovation performance of Guangdong manufacturing firms: the roles of regional proximity and research quality of universities

This study aims to investigate the direct relationships of university proximity and research quality with the product innovation performance of Chinese firms engaging in diverse university interaction channels. We collected data on the extent to which a sample of 166 Guangdong manufacturing firms draw from the intra-regional and cross-regional universities, as well as high-quality and average-quality universities. Our results revealed that: (1) interaction with intra-regional universities is more strongly associated with incremental product innovations, whereas interaction with cross-regional universities is more strongly associated with radical product innovations; (2) average-quality university linkages have a stronger relationship with incremental product innovations, while high-quality university linkages have a stronger relationship with radical product innovations; (3) interaction with cross-regional high-quality universities is more strongly associated with radical product innovations, but interaction with intra-regional average-universities is more strongly associated with incremental product innovations. These results furthered our understanding on how firms’ product innovations are related to university linkages of different degrees of regional proximity and research quality, and bear direct practical implications for firm strategy and governmental policy.

Problems and prospects of university-industry interaction

Problems and prospects of university-industry interaction

Which governance of university–industry interactions increases the value of industrial inventions?

While evidence suggests that industry inventors' interactions with universities enhance invention value, the role of interaction governance has so far been overlooked. Relying on an original survey of industry inventors of European patents based in Italy, we show that governance matters. Personal contractual collaborations between firms and individual academics lead to higher-value inventions than collaborations mediated by university institutions. The former enable more effective exploitation of academic knowledge, by facilitating its full transmission and integration into the firm's knowledge base.

Emerging Perspectives on Regional Academic Entrepreneurship

Academic entrepreneurship currently features as a leading topic in the field of entrepreneurship. This research study aims to carry out bibliometric analysis on this topic through recourse to cluster analysis. We carried out extensive search (1971–2017) of the Web of Science database that identified seven clusters in the literature: entrepreneurial universities, university–industry interactions, university–industry knowledge transfers, university–industry innovation networks, university entrepreneurship, university–industry industrial property and innovation ecosystems. This study reinforces the coherence and scientific structure of the existing literature and serves as a starting point for other studies on this field. We close with debate about the future research agenda for academic entrepreneurship.

Technology transfer between universities and companies

PurposeThis paper aims to research how technology transfer occurs, based on the Schumpeterian approach to innovation trilogy focusing on the interaction between the university and the company.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology used for this study was the analysis of two cases with an exploratory and qualitative approach. The case study subjects were two Brazilian universities: University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS). Semi-structured interviews were used as the data collection technique, whereas content analysis was used as the analysis technique.FindingsThe main results showed the need of companies and universities to understand that working in collaborative technology research contributes to the transformation of applied research into technological innovations that can transform society.Research limitations/implicationsThe research’s limitations were the unfeasibility of studying the government helix, the lack of clear and established processes within universities so that a comparison between the cases would be possible and the lack of access to technology contracts, as they are considered confidential. In addition, the use of two cases is considered a limitation, as it is not possible to generalize the conclusions pointed out by the study.Originality/valueWith this research, the authors were able to conclude that the university–industry interaction process has been improving, but it still needs to advance in organizational aspects. Some of the aspects to be considered are the adjustments for the institutions’ internal policies, the existing negotiations, the researchers’ behavior regarding the dissemination of the innovation culture and the performance of the technological innovation centers, which gradually are being trained to work in the market as well as in the university. It is necessary that primarily companies and universities understand that they must join efforts in collaborative technological research, so that the financial resources invested are not only accepted as published articles in qualified journals but also turn into technological innovations accepted by the market. All this investment must return as new products, services and technologies that generate local, regional, national and even international impact, implementing new types of businesses and new markets and yielding an economic impact in the country, thus generating innovation and social well-being.

UNIVERSITY-INDUSTRY INTERACTION: EVOLUTION, NECESSITY, BARRIERS AND PROSPECTS

The main aim of the presented research article is to find solution to existing problems in the field of interaction between university and industry. This aim is achieved by solving the following tasks: 1) analysis of the situation in the field of interaction between the university and business/industry 2) focusing attention on the need for cooperation between universities and industry and identifying key barriers to their interaction 3) looking into the formats of interaction between the universities and business/industry 4) formulating suggestions on improving new generation of «triple helix» - «screw spiral» and its influence on the cooperation between university and business/industry. The article is aimed at providing grounds for the need for new model of interaction between universities and industry based on statistical and historical data. Gathering analytical data on the current state of affairs in the field of research and academic potential allowed for forming stable opinion concerning the need for changing the model of interaction between universities and industry. This monitoring allowed for identifying weak points and focusing attention on the development of interaction between key actors suggests a new model which would meet modern requirements. The aim of this article can be reached by conducting overall analysis of existing literature, summing up necessary knowledge on interaction between universities and industrial sector; analysis of the need for interaction, key barriers and formats of interacting with the aim of formulating suggestions which would facilitate cooperation and identify the most effective patterns of partnership. This analysis covers the following documents: information and analytical sources, preceding research, international research organizations data, historical documents. The results of the research article prove the relevance of transforming the concept of a four-stage spiral into a new model of interaction between universities and industrial sector based on conducted analysis of relationship development between industry and universities, barriers in conducting partnership activities and the need for such cooperation, as well as the analysis of three-stage and four-stage spirals. The article can serve as an analytical material for university executives willing to enhance cooperation with industry according to regional requirements, as well as understand the situation in this sphere and create favorable environment for developing partner relations (for example, in the entrepreneurial sphere). Key limitation for this research is the inability to present the results of screw spiral design for Russian universities because of insufficient level of completeness of the model. This research should be continued in the field of completing screw spiral and is implementation and development in the field of university and industry interaction. The results of the research presented in this article can be useful for industrial sector development in the regions by means of creating university-industry interaction and considering possible barriers and priority development sphere. This article might be particularly interesting for the universities that have necessary resources (material, intellectual, technical) and whose main aim is to establish university as the driver of territory development for the region where they are situated. Originality of the article is in detailed analysis of interaction between universities and industry, formulating the need for such partnership, reviewing key barriers and ways of possible cooperation establishment. The topic presented has not yet been sufficiently analyzed so far; this fact makes the research particularly relevant.

Individual Differences, Self-Efficacy, and Chinese Scientists’ Industry Engagement

Research indicates that non-commercial and informal university–industry interactions, which are defined as academic engagement, account for a larger part and play a more important role than commercialization in academic knowledge transfer in China. This paper aims to explore the effect of Chinese scientists’ individual differences on academic engagement via social cognitive theory. This study attempts to provide an interpretation of how individual differences affect Chinese academics’ industrial engagement through self-efficacy. Based on data collection from Chinese universities, these analysis results show that gender, academic rank, industry connections, and previous industrial experience are significantly associated with Chinese scientists’ industry engagement. Furthermore, a scientist’s self-efficacy in industry collaborations is also influenced by these four individual factors. The mediating effects of self-efficacy on the relationship between individual differences and academic engagement are confirmed by empirical analysis results. Implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed at the end of this paper.

Diagnosis of the market for ideas and the role of industrial associations as intermediaries in the Brazilian context

Markets for technologies and ideas depend on the flow of knowledge and technology from one company to another or from universities and research institutes to industry. These markets are driven by the process known as open innovation. In recent years, the literature has emphasized the need to analyse the market for ideas through its constituent parts. The concept of technology and knowledge intermediaries is relatively new and has not yet been well defined. This article focuses on specific types of intermediaries in an attempt to enrich the conceptual framework of this knowledge domain and to identify the influences of variables at various contextual levels. The article focuses on the role of industrial associations as intermediaries connecting companies with other innovation system agents. By assessing the content of their respective websites, the authors compare the approaches of selected industrial associations in Brazil with counterparts in other countries. In doing so, they find differences between the two groups in mindset and attitudes to university–industry interaction. On the basis of their analysis, they diagnose shortcomings in the Brazilian context that need to be addressed if the country is to be competitive at the global level in terms of innovation and the effective exploitation of research.

Searching to bridge the gaps: a new typology of university-industry interaction

ObjetivoEste artigo propõe uma nova metodologia para reduzir as diferentes lacunas em termos de conhecimento existentes entre universidades e empresas. Esta nova tipologia classifica as interações em formadora, difusora, financiadora, desenvolvedora e pesquisadora.MetodologiaO Censo de 2010 disponibilizado pelo Diretório de Grupos de Pesquisa do CNPq foi utilizado para testar a tipologia proposta.ResultadosVerificou-se que, entre os cinco tipos de interação propostos, os mais frequentes foram as tipologias desenvolvedora (39%), difusora (23%) e pesquisadora (16%). Esses resultados indicam uma provável qualificação das interações universidade-empresa justamente com o objetivo de alcançar um desenvolvimento tecnológico conjunto superior.OriginalidadeO artigo contribui com o debate sobre interação universidade-empresa, propondo uma nova perspectiva sobre os tipos de interação que efetivamente podem preencher as lacunas em termos de conhecimento existente entre universidades e empresas, especialmente no contexto dos países em desenvolvimento.

Research infrastructure, networks of science and regional development - the case of Oskarshamn

Final deposit of nuclear waste is a a global engineering challenge. The Swedish nuclear industry has spent more than thirty years in investigating the best sites and technologies for the final storage of nuclear waste. Universities have been involved as experts in this massive R&D activity. The result has been a well-documented body of knowledge for decision support. At the same time global research infrastructure networks have been developed. More than 140 PhD theses have been produced as one of the outputs. Eleven of these PhD holders are now full professors. Based on earlier work on research infrastructures Lund, Hamburg, and Kiruna, see for instance Snickars and Falck (2015), we have addressed the question of the role of a technical research infrastructure for the development of fields of engineering and natural science at the same time generating regional development. It has provided an opportunity to empirically study the use of research infrastructure in a specialized technology field. At the same time the study investigates a municipality’s efforts to specialize in research without a university in the vicinity. Do networks of cooperation differ between research groups and research infrastructures? Can a region build its smart specialization on research infrastructure? Can research equipment once belonging to a company be transformed to a public research infrastructure asset? Our results indicate that research infrastructures as the ones in Oskarshamn are powerful creators of international research networks. It is possible although somewhat difficult in view of scattered systems for data provision to assess their academic and societal impacts. Engineering research has its own networks of university-industry and industry-university interaction where value is cogenerated dynamically. In the study we have come some way towards empirically analyzing the networks of research cooperation between industry and university using methods of infrastructure theory and network analysis.

University–Industry Interaction Trends in the Baltic Sea Region: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract The main objective of this study is to summarise and analyse the level of scientific interest from researchers from the Baltic Sea Region in interacting with each other on scientific and research projects in university–industry interaction field. This study will use bibliometric analysis based on actual joint initiatives and their published results. The growth of interest from both universities and industry in joint initiatives and changes in the nature of their cooperation (Butcher & Jeffren, 2005) has led to a significant increase in the Baltic Region and the number of scientific publications has doubled in the years 2010–2014. However, compared to the number of similar published studies from the United States, the United Kingdom, China and Japan, those results far outnumber the achievements of the Baltic regions. At the same time, there has been significant increase in the number of studies undertaken by Sweden, Germany and Finland in the period from 2012 to 2014, facilitated by active international and interdisciplinary cooperation and involvement in the research by a large number of authors. The results of the evaluation indicators through this bibliometric analysis can assist in the specific targeting and allocation of available finance and funding into promising fields of research and aid in communication and cooperation between stakeholders and interested organisations.

Technology transfer between universities and companies: two cases of Brazilian universities

Purpose – This paper aims to research how technology transfer occurs, based on the Schumpeterian approach to innovation trilogy focusing on the interaction between the university and the company. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology used for this study was the analysis of two cases with an exploratory and qualitative approach. The case study subjects were two Brazilian universities: University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS). Semi-structured interviews were used as the data collection technique, whereas content analysis was used as the analysis technique. Findings – The main results showed the need of companies and universities to understand that working in collaborative technology research contributes to the transformation of applied research into technological innovations that can transform society. Research limitations/implications – The research’s limitations were the unfeasibility of studying the government helix, the lack of clear and established processes within universities so that a comparison between the cases would be possible and the lack of access to technology contracts, as they are considered confidential. In addition, the use of two cases is considered a limitation, as it is not possible to generalize the conclusions pointed out by the study. Originality/value – With this research, the authors were able to conclude that the university–industry interaction process has been improving, but it still needs to advance in organizational aspects. Some of the aspects to be considered are the adjustments for the institutions’ internal policies, the existing negotiations, the researchers’ behavior regarding the dissemination of the innovation culture and the performance of the technological innovation centers, which gradually are being trained to work in the market as well as in the university. It is necessary that primarily companies and universities understand that they must join efforts in collaborative technological research, so that the financial resources invested are not only accepted as published articles in qualified journals but also turn into technological innovations accepted by the market. All this investment must return as new products, services and technologies that generate local, regional national and even international impact, implementing new types of businesses and new markets and yielding an economic impact in the country, thus generating innovation and social well-being.

Concise Guide to Entrepreneurship, Technology and Innovation

The purpose of this edited volume is contained in the title: to give overviews of a wide range of key issues related to the broad concepts of entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation. Overall, there are forty-six chapters, including a brief introduction by the editors. Each chapter has a clear and consistent structure, with an introduction, key discussion points in the literature, areas for further research, conclusions, and full references. The chapters address a wide range of topics, including the different types of entrepreneurship (academic, backdoor, student, social, etc.), the effects of disruptive technology, the determinants of entrepreneurship, risk and uncertainty, open innovation, incubators and accelerators, finance for entrepreneurs, technology transfer, and various aspects of university–industry interactions. Take, for example, the chapter on incubators and accelerators (Chapter 20). After clarifying the similarities and differences between business incubators, accelerators, and angel investors (including reproducing a helpful summary table by Cohen, 2013), the ten-page chapter then summarizes the recent literature on their characteristics and how these have changed over time. Tables 20.2 and 20.3 list various accelerators and incubators across the world—detailing their names, country, year founded, levels of funding, number of start-ups, and notable start-ups that were ‘nurtured’ within the accelerator or incubator. These tables are particularly useful to get an overview of the variety of these kinds of support structures that aim to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation among small and medium size enterprises. It is unfortunate that only university-based incubators are detailed in Table 20.3 to the neglect of government and private business incubators. The chapter ends with a call for further research on the linkages between the characteristics of incubators and accelerators and their performance.