History and Past Activities
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History and Past Activities |
Pirjo Niskanen
VTT, Group for Technology Studies
VTT — Technical Research Center of Finland
Finland
e-mail: Pirjo.Niskanen@vtt.fi
Who Gets What — Insights into the industry-science collaboration
Recent developments have placed collaboration between science and industry higher on the policy agenda. On the one hand, the growing interdisciplinarity and complexity of research makes it more costly for firms to carry out research and innovate alone; they must increasingly collaborate with public research organizations. On the other hand, scientific performance and scientific productivity increasingly depends on access to resources, both funds and infrastructure. This might lead to stronger research and development links with industry as well as universities' greater involvement in commercial exploitation of scientific knowledge.
The paper draws on ongoing research about the benefits and drawbacks of academic-industry research collaboration from academics' viewpoint. Strengthening the links with industry can bring benefits to universities and public research institutions: additional funding and job opportunities for graduates. Industry benefits from the results of sponsored research, licensing of newly patented knowledge and long term access to research expertise and skills. Despite these benefits, it is feared that greater co-operation raises new risks and a potential conflict between commercial goals and fundamental research and teaching missions.
Based on empirical data from Finland the following issues will be addressed:
- How can excellence in research and education be ensured despite commercial objectives?
- Could increased co-operation have positive impacts on basic research?
- What are the effects on the normative basis of universities by the commercialization and commodification of knowledge?
Sociology of Science and Technology NETwork - last update: April 2006