University-industry Partnership Research Articles

The role of university–industry partnership in innovative curriculum development: A case study of South African universities in the fourth industrial revolution

This study was motivated by the need to strategically implement changes propelled by the advent of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) to meet the increasing demand for theoretical skills required by industries for regional and global competitiveness through a university–industry partnership among South African universities. A total of 22 out of 26 South African Universities were purposefully selected for the study. A survey design was adopted in which a structured online interview was conducted with 70 out of 188 Deans/Executive Deans of faculties through the Microsoft Teams and Zoom platforms. The results show that most of the academic faculties had implemented the specific guidance provided by industry partners and relevant associations into the curriculum for teaching and learning at the faculty level. However, only 18% of the Deans/Executive Deans had the 4IR as a separate strategy formulated in their institutions, while about 30% of faculty Deans/Executive Deans had 4IR strategies integrated into the existing institutional strategy. Further findings revealed the unwillingness of the faculties of Engineering and the Built Environment and the faculty of science to embrace any form of institutional guidelines for responding to evolutionary change and for implementing the 4IR in their activities. They preferred to remain open to innovation and respond in the best way possible rather than being stiffened by organizational policy.

Development of university–industry partnership in Armenia: university perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate university–industry partnerships in Armenia from the viewpoint of universities. By doing so, it contributes to the existing literature on university–industry collaboration by identifying and addressing the specific challenges that impede the establishment of successful university–industry partnerships in Armenia and other post-Soviet countries.Design/methodology/approachA comprehensive literature review was conducted to examine the barriers, benefits and institutional, functional framework of collaboration. Additionally, this study used a survey methodology to gather data from faculty managing staff members at six Armenian higher educational institutions on various aspects of university–industry collaboration as well as the perceptions and experiences of the participants.FindingsThe results show that the effectiveness and applicability of the university–industry collaboration channels and institutional structures in six higher educational institutions are limited. Specifically, the channels that rely on academic entrepreneurship and innovation were found to be currently unviable. Moreover, the existence of spin-offs and start-ups is notably absent. Furthermore, limited access to funding and inadequate entrepreneurial support systems pose significant barriers to developing university–industry partnerships in Armenian reality.Originality/valueThis study represents a pioneering effort within the context of Armenian higher educational institutions, as it is the first time a survey has been organized to specifically investigate the topic of university–industry partnerships. Before this study, there was a lack of empirical research and data collection on this topic in Armenian higher education settings. Therefore, this research holds significant originality and contributes to filling the existing gap in knowledge regarding university–industry partnerships in Armenia. The research is shedding light on a previously unexplored area and providing a valuable contribution to the field of university–industry collaboration research in Armenia and other post-Soviet countries.

DESIGN THINKING IN SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF UNEMPLOYMENT AMONG GRADUATES IN THE PALESTINIAN MARKET

This paper investigates the issue of graduate unemployment in the Palestinian market and advocates the use of design thinking as a creative method to finding answers. The report emphasizes graduates' continually high unemployment rates and the difficulties they experience in obtaining suitable work. The researchers want to solve this issue and produce practical and context-appropriate solutions by employing design thinking methodology. The article explores the stages of design thinking and their application to complicated issue solving. The study issue is concerned with how design thinking might be utilized to combat graduate unemployment in Palestine. The study's relevance stems from its ability to provide a unique strategy to addressing this issue and contribute to the knowledge and practice of problem-solving in the Palestinian market. The study incorporates a descriptive experimental technique as well as a variety of data gathering methods such as observation, interviews, and workshops. The findings highlight the significance of each step of design thinking and its ability to develop innovative solutions. According to the findings, design thinking may lead to new and effective solutions to unemployment and boost employability. The article finishes with proposals such as matching university majors to labor market demands, building an alumni database, including the government in job creation, and assuring equitable employment practices. To address the difficulties of graduate unemployment in Palestine, it is also proposed to improve educational programs, strengthen university-industry partnership, and develop complete solutions.

Isotope Discrimination of Source Waters, Flowpaths, and Travel Times at an Acid-Generating, Lead–Zinc–Silver Mine, Silver Valley, Idaho, USA

Precipitation infiltrates into the lead–zinc–silver Bunker Hill Mine, oxidizes pyrite, and produces acidic waters that discharge from the mine portal. The metasedimentary geology and alteration from 100+ yr of mining provide a heterogeneous environment for source water infiltration and flow within the mine. A university–industry partnership was developed to trace the mine water sources, flowpaths, and travel times to identify potential areas for infiltration reduction. Snowpack, creek, and mine water samples were collected over a 1-year period for the analysis of δ2H, δ18O, and 3H, along with the in situ measurement of temperature, specific conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen, and flow. The isotope tracers were used to identify the source waters, unmix mine water as it moved deeper in the mine, and examine flowpaths in and near the acid-generating pyritic zone. The results indicate creek water infiltrating relatively quickly through the anthropogenically-modified pathways and causing the largest amount of acidic water in the upper levels of the mine. Slower, natural pathways associated with faults, fractures, and bedding planes produce mostly neutral waters with the source waters typically originating at higher elevations. Travel times ranged from <1 to 22 years with shorter pathways to the upper levels of the mine and increasing contributions deeper in the mine from pathways containing older, higher-elevation snowmelt. These slower and older inflows were identified by depleted δ18O values, smaller 3H concentrations, the dampening of the variability of the isotope signals, and pH increases. Reduction of infiltration zones near the upper workings of the mine likely will decrease the acidic waters in the upper levels of the mine, but the higher elevation infiltration zones will continue to contribute snowmelt-derived waters at all mine levels.

University-Industry Collaboration in Project-Based Learning: Perspective and Motivation of Industry Partners

Extant research has examined the essence of university-industry partnership from the university’s perspective. However, little is known about managing such partnership from an industry partner’s perspective. Understanding industry partner’s perspective is important as it may help the university to better manage the collaboration process, while keeping the focus on providing students with a positive project-based learning (PBL) experience. This study surveyed 33 industry partners to examine university-industry partnerships in a PBL setting from an industry partner’s perspective. The results show that project output needs to cater to the actual need, requirement, and expectation of the industry partner. Also, there must be efficient communication between industry partners, academics, and students for the collaboration to be successful. By understanding how to manage such university-industry partnership from the perspectives of industry partners, it would help universities to improve the PBL pedagogy in their curriculum. Also, companies may learn to better work with students and academics to generate new ideas that address their existing problems and issues.

International developments in doctoral education: The case of Türkiye

ABSTRACT Doctoral education has been of significance in Türkiye particularly in the last 20 years due to the major expansion of higher education in the country. Between 2002 and 2022, the number of universities in the country almost tripled to reach 207, exacerbating the shortage in the number of academicians and researchers. This, along with the pressure to enhance universities’ performance in international rankings, has made the improvement of doctoral education a priority. Additionally, there have been political, economic and cultural changes in the country in recent years, and these as well as the influences of globalisation, massification, diversification, capitalism and neoliberalism have led to significant policy changes in higher education. In this article, an overview is provided of the developments in doctoral education in Türkiye in response to these changes, focusing on policies related to producing qualified academicians, enabling the diversification of universities through mission differentiation, and facilitating university–industry partnership approaches.

Development of a Distributed Collaborative Research Tool for University-Industry Partnership

This research study aims at developing a collaborative research tool using distributed servers to enhance collaborative research among Universities and Industries to promote innovation. The Adaptive Software Development model was employed due to the innovative nature of the study. Requirements were gathered from key stakeholders to determine the system architecture and various models that supported the system development process. The testing procedure demonstrated that three (3) separately located servers representing University A, University B and Industry Players worked together as one unit such that all users could form Research Teams and collaboratively conduct research work on the platform to boost University-Industry partnership for innovation.

How do institutional pressures effect knowledge transfer activities within university-industry partnership

How do institutional pressures effect knowledge transfer activities within university-industry partnership

Training competences in smart cities: an online program for higher education students

Purpose This paper aims to explain the development of an online training curriculum to enable students to acquire the transversal competences needed to work on smart cities projects. In this curriculum, a modern approach to the teaching-learning process was applied, suitable for the interdisciplinary and multinational learning challenges that smart cities impose, but within the framework of a university-industry European partnership. Design/methodology/approach To develop the curriculum, the competences needed for smart cities, common to all disciplines and fields, had to be researched. In addition, real smart cities projects also had to be selected for work following a project-based learning methodology. For both, this study applied the Delphi method, selecting the most relevant ones based on the data obtained by performing a multi-criteria decision analysis. Findings The procedure followed for the identification of transversal competences in a field, the design of an innovative online training program and the results of the first edition of the program are discussed. Research limitations/implications The processes that were developed, both to detect the most relevant transversal competences and to design the online training program, could be extrapolated to other areas. Moreover, it is very likely that the competences detected in this work could also be extrapolated, for the most part, to interdisciplinary teams. Originality/value To date, there is no European initiative addressing the challenges of smart cities that requires a major adjustment in higher education, in the relationship between universities and all the mechanisms of lifelong learning with the industry related to smart cities. This work is a pioneer in this regard.

Managing Functional and Innovative Entrepreneurship Centres for Global Competitiveness in Public Universities in South-South, Nigeria

This study investigated approaches and challenges of managing functional and innovative Entrepreneurship Centres for global competitiveness in public universities in South-South, Nigeria. The study adopted descriptive survey design and was guided by two research questions and two hypotheses. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select 487 from the population of 9,735 academic staff in the 14 public universities in South-South, Nigeria. Data was collected using a survey questionnaire instrument which was validated for reliability at 0.88. Mean and standard deviation were used to analyse the research questions while z-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings showed that in South-South, Nigeria were not globally competitive. Some of the approaches that could be deployed to improve their global competitiveness included using diverse means to enhance entrepreneurial behaviours and mindsets of the students and adopting extensive use of visuals, digital tools and multimedia to enhance their creativity. The challenges identified include inadequate funding, poor university-industry partnership on Research & Development and inadequate infrastructural facilities. It is recommended that Entrepreneurship Centres in public universities in South-South, Nigeria should be adequately funded and they should adopt relevant approaches in order to become globally competitive.

The Lifespan of a University–Industry Partnership: A Case Study

This case study presents a fictionalized narrative account of a university–industry partnership across a 5-year period. The case presented involves a hypothetical public research university and their partnership with a Fortune 500 company. A brief background on the history of university–industry partnerships is provided with highlights of key policies and theoretical models for partnership development. Teaching notes, activities, and additional suggested readings are provided to aid in analysis and reflection.

How do institutional pressures effect knowledge transfer activities within university-industry partnership

How do institutional pressures effect knowledge transfer activities within university-industry partnership

A framework for the university performance assessment: some insights on innovation, technology and entrepreneurship

The importance of developing a good entrepreneurship and innovation environment in universities is highlighted by the fact that education is a critical factor in economic growth. This research examines the main factors that contribute to the development of an innovation ecosystem in universities, measures university performance in terms of innovation, technology and entrepreneurship and identifies the strength and areas of improvement of university system about these issues. More specifically, this study compared and analysed several parameters, such as scientific and technological research capability, intellectual property records, collaboration and communication, entrepreneurship and innovation culture, economic influence and commercialisation, to identify the essential factor for promoting entrepreneurship and innovation educational techniques in universities by using fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making method. The findings reveal that the "number of university-industry partnership projects" has relatively higher weightage than other parameters, suggesting the importance of industry collaboration in the development of universities innovation, technology and entrepreneurship ecosystems.

A Call to Action on Artificial Intelligence and Social Work Education: Lessons Learned from A Simulation Project Using Natural Language Processing

ABSTRACT In discussing a university-industry partnership on the development of an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based simulation platform, this conceptual paper explores the use of Natural Language Processing (NLP) as a pedagogical innovation in social work. Critically reflecting upon this ongoing project, we discuss the current promises and limitations of NLP for social work education. The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework theoretically informs “lessons learned” from this case study and provides a call to action for social work educators to play a greater role in developing and researching pedagogies supported by currently evolving AI technologies.

Innovation and Human Development Perspectives in West Africa

Innovation during this era of globalization plays a crucial role in the growth and development of an economy. This study empirically investigates the role of research and development (innovation) on human development in West Africa (2004—2014). The estimation techniques utilized to carry out the objective are the standard variations of the Generalized least squares—Panel Fixed and Panel Random effects estimation techniques. The empirical results show that research and development in West Africa has a statistically significant positive impact on human development which emphasizes the potentials of human development to be harnessed by consistent research and development. The study recommends increased research and development (innovation) through adequate research and development funding and university-industry partnership for real human development problems to be solved.

Informal industry–university partnership in gaming education and research: a case study in Macao

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to present a model of a university–industry partnership in gaming education and research. It analyzes the interactions and knowledge transfer between the two parties in Macao.Design/methodology/approachThis paper adopts a qualitative case study approach to share experiences of a university based in Macao as a single case to present its informal partnership with the industry in the area of gaming education and research.FindingsThis paper has shown that the partnership has provided clear benefits to both parties and the government is an influential power that can enhance collaboration. Although the informal partnership involves considerable time and efforts, it is flexible in comparison to the formal approach. Despite this, the knowledge transfer tends to focus on general issues to avoid being appropriated by competitors.Research limitations/implicationsThis demonstrates how a public university in Macao has achieved an informal industry–university partnership, which requires the commitment and understanding of both parties for the bi-directional exchange of knowledge. Such knowledge needs to be value-enhancing for the industry to keep the partnership grow and prosper.Originality/valueThis study puts forward an original approach to an informal industry–university partnership in the area of gaming education and research.

Discovering the research focus of higher academic institutions

The research focus of an institution indicates the academic strength of the institution. This academic strength goes a long way to determine the quality of academic product expected from such an institution. To this effect, this study aims at analyzing the research publication strength of 70 Nigerian universities that are visible in Scopus database for Computer Science from inception to 22 December 2017. They include 35 federal, 27 state and 8 private universities. This study is divided into two phases; the first phase consists of six major steps in a waterfall model and the second is carried out by adopting a knowledge discovery model using a clustering algorithm for pattern discovery in an unstructured data model. The data source for the analysis is the Scopus indexing database recommended by the Times Higher Education for international ranking of higher institutions. From the first phase, the predominant outlet for each institution was discovered alongside the percentage of publications in the dominant outlet and the number of publications by the institution within the database over the period of the analysis. In the second phase, the predominant areas of research of each institution within the field of Computer Science was determined. In particular, it was observed that such areas as deep learning and data science are under researched. The findings also revealed networking as the most published area in Nigerian universities, and a number of Nigerian computer science scholars engage in application research which link Computer Science with other disciplines with Nigeria and Africa as case studies. The findings from this research can support postgraduate students’ decision in making the right choice of institution based on their research interest. It will also serve as an eye-opener for industries in promoting a result-oriented university-industry partnership.

The design capabilities of dynamic teams pursuing innovation in an academic context

Design research is moving beyond the study of industry based practices and towards the stewardship of design-led innovation for business development and economic growth. To this end, it is now required to evidence the benefits it creates. To examine these notions further this paper presents an approach for design-led innovation within an academic context. The authors build on the concept of design capabilities to develop a framework of evaluation that provides a platform for which the impact and value of design to industry and the formation of diverse teams can be critically discussed. Furthermore, this study contributes to the burgeoning cognisance of design capabilities as a means to understand value, by indicating potential pathways towards yet further application of design research in the industry context. It closes with reflections and reveals how lessons from this study can contribute to future of university-industry partnership working.

University-Industry Partnership as a Teaching-Learning Strategy

University-industry partnerships are an efficient and cost-effective approach to improve engineering education. Current traditional teaching faces high rates of school dropout due to students' low motivation as well as the lack of real-world practices that reflect the nature of the work students will carry out in the future as engineers. This partnership is an important strategy for engineering education.

Building and Supporting Humanities-Based University–industry Partnerships: View from the Academics

University–industry partnerships are rare on the humanities side of campus in contrast to the sciences. As a result, little is known about these partnerships, which tend to be with libraries and other not-for-profit organizations. Using the Implementing New Knowledge Environments: Network Open Social Scholarship (INKE:NOSS) as a case study, this research examines a humanities-based university–industry partnership from the academics’ perspective. It explores the nature of the collaboration, associated benefits and challenges, and measures of success and desired outcomes. Overall, building upon several years of working with the partners, the interviewed researchers found that the benefits of collaborating outweighed the challenges. The benefits included the potential to move research towards production-orientated results. Among the many challenges, there was some hesitation about the ability to achieve publications and presentations needed for tenure and promotion. The academics contributed students, and in-kind and cash resources from their own research funds and those of the university to the partnership. At this point, the measures of success and desirable outcomes have not been quantified and instead focus on policy intervention and movement towards open social scholarship. These understandings about the nature of such a university–industry collaboration should provide a good foundation if partnership is funded.