Knowing that research universities are integral to the innovation in this country, states continue their efforts to build the economy by supporting efforts to move the research from the labs to the market.
Late last year, the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation announced a $23.7 million investment to strengthen technology-based economic development efforts at the University of Arkansas.
While some researchers contend that university-industry collaboration may corrupt the academic ideal of open sciences and reduce academic productivity, researchers from the London Business School (LBS) and University of Southern California (USC) found that university-industry research collaborations – in certain situations – can lead to more publications but fewer patents than similar academic studies without industry partners. These findings would indicate that such collaboration can actually stimulate open science and increase academic productivity, rather than weaken it.
Well-designed research centers can help bring an innovation ecosystem together through the spillover effects of knowledge dissemination, student learning experiences, local early access to new technologies, and by attracting R&D funding. In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced a $30 million initiative led by SUNY’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) to transform and revitalize a vacant building into a hub for smart cities technology companies, research, education and workforce training.
A recent report by the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) dubbed American universities the “unsung heroes in the economic recovery.” Through licensing and startup activity, universities and other groups earned more than $2.6 billion total income from royalties and other sources in FY12 alone, according to the report highlights.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is entertaining proposals to support “academe-industry partnerships, which are led by an interdisciplinary academic research team collaborating with at least one industry partner in order to carry out research to advance, adapt, and integrate technology(ies) into a specified, human-centered smart service system.” Through the Building Innovation Capacity (BIC) element of the Partnerships for Innovation program, NSF intends to make up to $10 million in grants to support research partnerships working on projects that operate in the post-fundame
While there has been a significant amount of focus on identifying and cultivating academic entrepreneurs, two recent studies indicate that the environmental factors are equally important in the commercialization of academic research. These studies find that the commercialization approach of the tech transfer offices (TTOs) and institutional characteristics were vital in the success of academic research commercialization.
Corporate-sponsored research resulted in licenses and patents much more frequently than federally sponsored projects at the campuses of the University of California system, according to findings published in Nature. A 20 year study found that industry support was more likely to produce patents, licenses and future citations in all fields of research. Projects that received both corporate and federal support were even more likely to generate useful intellectual property.
Purdue University, the University City Science Center, and Washington State University announced the creation of new investment funds to support the growth of university-affiliated startups in their respective communities. These three recently announced commercialization funds all share a common trend – they will be managed or assisted in the management process via public-private partnerships.
Within the past month, two of America’s major research universities – the University of California system (first in total R&D expenditures, according to the NSF) and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (eleventh in total R&D expenditures) announced new funds to increase the rate at which their students, faculties, and researchers are able to commercialize their ideas into new businesses.
Maryland's Innovation Initiative (MII), launched earlier this year, unveiled two inaugural programs on Monday aimed at commercializing technologies at the state's universities. The new Innovation Discovery Program will help universities identify promising technologies and potential collaborations by reimbursing them for the costs of employing on-site, part-time "site miners." The Innovation Commercialization Program will provide cash awards to support research, commercialization planning and product development.
University-focused initiatives that help bring new technologies and products to market help drive regional economic development and encourage an entrepreneurial culture on campuses. SSTI’s latest Trends in TBED report featured a number of commercialization efforts launched in 2013, including university-based funds to support ideas from faculty, staff and alumni. So far, 2014 also has proven active in this area with the announcement of several new initiatives to support university technology startups.
Follow-on funding, access to technology, talent and resources all can be barriers to commercialization and successfully spinning off sustainable companies. Always seeking a quicker, more viable path to market for technologies and products, university-based programs and public-private partnerships try to tackle these hurdles, which often times are region-specific. Such is the case in Long Island, NY, where a recent partnership between a nonprofit organization and venture capital firm is working to address access to capital concerns.
Hoping to draw attention to declining federal funding for basic research, a nonprofit group of public and private research universities unveiled a report highlighting the success of 100 companies that trace their roots to a federally funded research university. Of the companies highlighted, 89 remain in business today, which is far better than the U.S. average new business survival rate of 50 percent after five years, the report notes. Moreover, 16 of the 20 youngest companies (less than five years old) also remain in business.
Because universities are increasingly seen as hubs for regional economic development, many institutions are reorganizing their business engagement efforts to eliminate the barriers between universities and the innovation community. Recently, the University of New Hampshire, the University of Michigan Medical School and the University of Texas at Arlington all announced plans to streamline and redesign their innovation services, aiming to increase their contribution to regional job and business creation.
Spending time at a technology or business incubator may be the key to learning about entrepreneurship. Some universities, seeking to ramp up entrepreneurship programs, are turning to incubators as real-world teachers.
Although universities are not always at the forefront of the discussion on job creation and economic activity, they saw a sizable increase in licensing and startup activity during FY12, according to a survey by the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM). Respondents reported $36.8 billion in net product sales from licensed technologies and startup companies from 70 of the surveyed institutions employed over 15,000 full-time employees. Highlights from the survey are available now, and the full report is set to release at the end of the year.
U.S. research universities have launched several new initiatives to impact international development across Africa by leveraging their institutional knowledge to support tech-based economic growth on the continent. The African Development Bank, a regional multilateral development bank, also announced that it will commit $45 million for the creation of a Pan African University consisting of five thematic institutes focused primarily on science, technology and innovation.
The co-locating of researchers, donated equipment, and capital are recent examples of key elements provided by private-sector partners to help accelerate technology commercialization. In the past month, leaders from universities and nonprofit organizations across the country have announced new efforts to expand research capacity and bring more products to market by launching innovative centers in collaboration with corporate partners.
Leasing the state's wholesale liquor distribution system to JobsOhio to provide a dedicated funding source of about $100 million annually for job creation is a key component to reforming Ohio's economic development efforts under Gov. John Kasich. The governor unveiled the plan last week as part of the 2012-13 biennial budget. The proposed budget also sets aside $33 million in the second year of the biennium to facilitate the transfer of economic development initiatives from the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) to the newly established nonprofit corporation.
Lawmakers approved many of Gov. Bob McDonnell's proposals aimed at growing Virginia's technology and life sciences industries by dedicating about half of the funding requested by the governor to support R&D, commercialization, SBIR matching grants, and funding for early stage equity investments.
Deep cuts to higher education and reorganizing economic development efforts are common themes in executive budget proposals across most of the country as governors seek to both reduce spending and create jobs. Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad recently introduced legislation to replace the state's existing economic development agency with a public-private partnership. Meanwhile, his budget eliminates the Iowa Power Fund, established by the legislature in 2007 to invest in private sector renewable and alternative energy industries. In Massachusetts, Gov.
Gov. Martin O'Malley last week unveiled details of his proposed $100 million venture fund announced last year during his re-election campaign as an initiative to grow the state's knowledge-based industries, particularly within the life sciences sector (see the June 9, 2010 issue of the Digest).
Funding for university-based research initiatives would be cut significantly under Gov. Nathan Deal's proposed FY12 budget as the governor aims to close a projected deficit of nearly $1 billion. The Georgia Research Alliance (GRA), a nationally recognized model for creating and sustaining tech-based economies, would receive $4.5 million in FY12, a 75 percent reduction from the current year. The governor's budget also would transfer GRA funds to the Department of Economic Development, a move that would align TBED with the state's more traditional economic development efforts.