Our recent whitepaper, ‘Catalyzing Collaboration: How Research Information Management Systems Drive Academic-Industry Partnerships’ explores the core benefits of industry collaboration and outlines how universities can use technology to build stronger, more visible partnerships. The following blog post is part of a series of abridged extracts from that paper.
In today’s increasingly interconnected world, the need for academic institutions to showcase their research capabilities and researcher expertise in order to engage with industry partners is paramount.
Universities house a vast array of knowledgeable faculty and researchers who are leaders in their respective fields. These experts can be invaluable resources for innovative ideas, problem-solving, and research collaborations. The ability to engage with industry partners can significantly boost a university’s research impact, drive technology transfer, and secure funding. Many universities have recognized this need and established dedicated services to identify and foster collaborations between academia and the private sector.
Derek Newton (Assistant Vice-President, Innovation, Partnerships and Entrepreneurship at the Innovations & Partnerships Office) highlights the University of Toronto’s comprehensive approach to fostering industry engagement:
“We’re structured a little differently than other universities… everything from Business Development to helping folks navigate our researchers and find great partners, is within the Innovations & Partnerships Office (IPO) business portfolio. Tech transfer is also within this portfolio, as is the university’s IP portfolio. Additionally, this portfolio focuses on how we support, launch, and create startup companies, which has been rapidly expanding at the university.”
The University of Toronto’s portfolio strategy not only supports research collaborations but also oversees intellectual property (IP) management and the creation of startup companies. This holistic structure is designed to facilitate impactful research and technology transfer in a way that benefits both the university and its industry partners.
Once connections have been made, the University of Toronto has a wealth of ways in which it supports researchers in their projects and collaborations.
“Last year we published The Researcher’s Guide to Industry Partnerships, which is a great information booklet that all of our researchers have access to,” says Newton. “It provides researchers with an informative reference guide on how to start and engage with industry, along with considerations to ensure the partnership is structured for success.”
“A lot of industry engagement happens at the individual researcher level: they’re working with partners, they’re going to conferences, they’re being approached, or they’re making their own outreach. We support our researchers when they have any agreement requirements, ranging from NDAs, to material- or data-transfer agreements, to sponsored research contracts.”
However, making those initial connections is not without its challenges. For industry partners seeking expertise, finding the right person can be easier said than done. Navigating the complex and fragmented structures of universities can be a significant barrier for potential industry partners or funders. These potential partners often spend time combing through university websites and faculty directories, looking for the right fit to develop the collaboration they have in mind.
Many universities have separate websites for different schools and departments, often with limited cross-functional search capabilities. These websites and directories may sometimes return information of dubious veracity, richness, and utility, or may offer only a historical snapshot of faculty and services. With no single source of truth, private sector representatives must navigate multiple points of entry, multiple datasets, and disparate catalogs. Getting a holistic view of the complexity and richness of a university’s work and research can be challenging: often, even a member of university faculty may be unaware that someone else on their own campus is working on a similar project with overlapping goals.
To address these challenges, centralized profiling tools and research portals are becoming essential. Tools like DiscoverResearch, which is built on Symplectic Elements, are transforming the way partners engage with academic expertise.
“Where companies have a challenge, they have a topic, their next step is: how do they identify the right people?” says Newton. “That’s where DiscoverResearch comes in. DiscoverResearch is a really amazing new tool that helps industry navigate this very big institution – there are over 16,500 affiliated researchers, across multiple domains, and it allows a visitor to find all those types of researchers and to reach out.”
The value of such tools goes beyond simply linking industry with academic researchers: it also fosters cross-collaboration within the institution.
“It’s also a great collaboration tool for our own researchers to find collaborative opportunities within the institution that may not have been obvious to them,” says Newton. “Sometimes we surprise ourselves, because we’re just such a huge organization!”
Tools like DiscoverResearch ensure that industry can more easily engage with university expertise, creating opportunities for impactful collaborations that extend beyond initial projects. By providing streamlined, publicly available access to expertise and facilities, these platforms are powerful resources not only for making connections but also for building ongoing, mutually beneficial relationships between universities and their industry partners.
“We have many great examples where a company starts working with a researcher at the University of Toronto, and as they get more involved, they discover other research areas or business units within their organization that also want to connect,” says Newton.
Our whitepaper, Catalyzing Collaboration: How Research Information Management Systems Drive Academic-Industry Partnerships, dives deeper into strategies and solutions for bridging the gap between academia and industry.
Discover how universities like the University of Toronto are revolutionizing industry collaboration with innovative tools like DiscoverResearch.