Academics 'fail to commercialise research'

Half of academics engaged in research in the State do not collaborate with other academics or industry, while only 30 per cent have been involved in commercialisation activity arising from academic research, a new study has revealed.

Despite an increasing emphasis by the Government on the importance of such links for the future economic prosperity of the country, the research finds that 50 per cent of respondents had never been involved in collaborative research with industry.

The report, described by employers body Ibec as "very disappointing", also found that 55 per cent felt commercialisation was important for developing their work to its full potential.

But many of those who had collaborated with industry expressed concerns about arrangements for the sharing of intellectual property and publications arising from their work.

The survey of almost a thousand research academics in all of the State's seven universities and the Dublin Institute of Technology - accounting for around 17 per cent of all such researchers - reveals that many believe a lack of communication from industry is a significant barrier to greater collaboration. Of those who have collaborated with industry, only 18 per cent said such activity was initiated by industry.

Aidan King, an MBA student at TCD who conducted the research, sent out over 5,000 e-mails asking research academics to respond to an online survey. Of these, 977 researchers, primarily drawn from business, science, engineering, biotechnology, IT and medical backgrounds, participated in the survey. Participants included Phd students, post-doctoral researchers, lecturers and professors. Other disciplines such as law, arts, politics and the humanities were not included.

The majority of those surveyed - 58 per cent - said commercialisation procedures at their institutions could be improved. This could be achieved through greater communication from industry, and a better ownership and reward structure for academics based on commercialisation activity.

But insufficient rewards for university researchers, as well as a lack of access to appropriate sources of finance or venture capital, were among the largest barriers to greater commercialisation of academic research.

Inadequate resources in academic institutions, and too great an emphasis on teaching and fundraising were also identified as presenting significant challenges to the development of better links with industry.

According to Mr King, one of the most striking aspects of the survey was the lack of suitable data on the level and types of research activity in which individuals are engaged in Ireland.

"Nobody seems to know what people engaged in research think about the problems. Giving a voice to this was really, really important," he said.

"There needs to be some sort of human resource audit of the work going on in higher education."

Siobhán Masterson of Ibec said the lack of communication from industry was "obviously something we'd need to examine ourselves".

The Government had set ambitious targets for 2.5 per cent of gross GNP expenditure to be spent on R&D by 2013, she said. But Ibec is very concerned that there is not greater collaboration, and is working closely with third-level institutions to address this, she added.

"It is absolutely critical that we get this right for the future of the economy," she said. "A sea change is needed in terms of how academics practice R&D, and how business does this."