Main actors in the innovation process (Universities)

Universities contribute to the innovation process with their three main functions: Teaching, Research and Engagement with industry. Teaching: by educating skilled undergraduates, graduates, and post-doctoral students, universities prepare a labour force capable to create and apply new ideas. Research: One of the traditional distinctions in research, seen in the Frascati Manual, is between that which is ‘basic’ and that which is ‘applied’. The former is thought to be curiosity-driven, with no consideration of its application, and is the particular concern of universities. The latter is believed to be directed towards an identified use and is usually explored in industry. Yet some businesses invest substantially in basic research and universities conduct extensive applied research, especially in professional departments such as medicine and engineering. In reality, basic and applied research are elements of a continuum, with many interconnections. Applied research may result from basic research findings, and basic research may be undertaken to explain how an existing technology works. One of the most useful outcomes from pure basic research is the instrumentation developed to assist experimentation. Engagement with industry: Since the passing of the Bayh-Dole Act in the USA in 1980, which allowed research institutions to own the results of publicly funded research, universities have become preoccupied with making money from their research. This has usually taken the form of patent-protected intellectual property, licensed to businesses, or through start-up companies, spun out of and part-owned by the university. Evidence suggests, however, that the number of successful instances of this model of commercialization is limited. Also important are the networking activities between universities and business about new developments and their potential applications. For many businesses, particularly smaller ones, the purpose of collaborating with universities is immediate problem-solving, larger firms will engage in broader dialogue with universities to learn about the directions of future research.