One of UVic Industry Partnerships’ roles at the University is to assist researchers with identifying suitable research partners and developing research partnership agreements once a mutually beneficial research project is identified. Research collaborations and partnerships can be very useful to researchers, as they often provide funding for research programs as well as important insights and information into the needs of the market. Research partnerships can evolve in several ways:
- The University is approached by companies or industry associations looking for specific expertise or technology;
- The researcher has identified an organization that might be potentially interested in the technology;
- The University or UVic Industry Partnerships has promoted certain area of expertise or technology and consequently, a company or an organization expresses an interest.
How do I get started?
Start by undertaking a self examination of what you would like to achieve with a research partnership. Consider the following:
- Do you have an understanding of what you have to offer to a commercial partner (expertise, equipment, background IP)? What are the benefits they might obtain from the collaboration?
- Equally important, are there parts of your research program you want to isolate from any collaboration? Can those parts be cleanly isolated?
- Are you clear on what your objectives of the partnership are?
- What are your criteria for selecting an industrial partner?
- Have you thought about what resources may be required?
- Do you have the capacity in your lab to take on a new collaborative project?
- Have you fully protected background IP prior to approaching potential partners?
Once you know the answers to these questions, contact one of the Industry Liaison Officers at UIP to discuss how to match the expertise in your lab with groups in the private sector with similar interest.
Keys to Success
There are many factors that influence your ability to creating long-lasting mutually beneficial research collaborations with industrial partners. Every external organization has their own list of criteria to determine when and where they will invest their R&D dollars. Given these differences it is not possible to pin-point exactly what will lead to a successful partnership, but our experience has shown us that there are some common requirements. The following are the top 3 requirements we see from industrial partners:
- Responsiveness - Industry generally works on tighter timelines and requires quick turnaround time to inquiries.
- Priority Alignment /Technology Match – Industry typically likes to see how the research or technology being developed at a University can fit into their product or service offering within a defined period of time (1, 2, 5, 10 years etc.). For example, a Pharmaceutical company who’s focus is on Oncology will likely not be a good candidate for Diabetes related research/technology regardless of how groundbreaking the technology might be.
- Certainty – it is important for industry to know they will be able to obtain access to innovations arising from a research collaboration.