Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
private. companies. are. engaging. in. joint. research,. establishing. relationships. with.
exchange.and.collaboration.in.all.stages.of.research.
The.potential.beneits.from.university-industry.partnerships.are.clear..Comple-
mentarities.between.scientiic.and.practical.knowledge.have.the.capacity.to.generate.
rapid. and. far-reaching. innovation.. Under. the. best. of. circumstances,. each. partner.
is.seeking.attributes.and.assets.in.prospective.partners.that.complement.their.own.
abilities.and.resources..Industry.is.interested.in.combining.its.knowledge.of.markets.
with.information.on.new.research.and.innovation.in.order.to.identify. those.devel-
opments. that. are. likely. to. lead. to. commercial. applications.. This. motivation. may.
be. obvious,. but. industry. is. also. interested. in. more. subtle. assets. such. as. access. to.
academic.expertise,.networks,.and.irst-hand.information.about.up-and-coming.sci-
entists.(current.graduate.students)..And.while.universities.are.very.clearly.interested.
in.inancial.capital,.they.are.also.seeking.intellectual.capital,.cutting-edge.research.
technologies,
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. proprietary. research. tools. (e.g.,. databases),. and. in. many. instances.
enabling.IP.
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.Access.to.these.research.assets.enhances.a.university's.ability.to.pro-
vide.irst-rate.education.to.its.graduate.students.
Although.the.potential.beneits.of.research.partnerships.are.reasonably.transpar-
ent,.the.potential.risks.to.both.parties.are.opaque..These.risks.pose.serious.obstacles.
to. the. successful. formation. of. public-private. research. partnerships.. In. addition. to.
the.uncertainty.inherent.in.any.research.process,.the.differences.between.university.
educational.objectives.and.corporate.goals.are.an.important.source.of.risk.in.these.
relationships..Recent.data.show.that.almost.70%.of.research.in.universities.has.been.
categorized. by. the. National. Science. Foundation. as. basic,. while. the. proportion. is.
reversed. in. industry.. In. 2000,. while. universities. accounted. for. only. 14%. of. total.
R&D. funding. in. the. United. States,. they. performed. about. 50%. of. the. total. basic.
research.
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. With. private. inancing. comes. the. concern. that. the. traditional. orienta-
tion. of. the. academic. research. agenda. toward. basic,. public. goods. research. will. be.
directed.toward.more.applied,.appropriable.research.that.serves.the.objectives.of.the.
private.partner,.and.that.this,.in.turn,.will.result.in.a.loss.of.academic.integrity..Not.
only.research.direction.but.research.results.from.sponsored.studies.might.be.biased.
toward. sponsors'. interests.. Bekelman. et. al.,. for. instance,. show. that. in. biomedical.
research.there.is.a.statistically.signiicant.association.between.industry.sponsorship.
and.proindustry.conclusions.
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Industrial. sponsors. may. also. impose. constraints. on. communication. between.
grantees. and. other. colleagues,. which,. in. turn,. may. hinder. research. progress. and.
increase. research. costs.
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. Planning. horizons. tend. to. differ;. university. researchers.
focus.on.long-term.research.while.companies.often.seek.quick.turn-around.projects..
In.addition,.the.cultures.and.values.of.research.partners.may.simply.clash,.creating.
insurmountable.blocks.to.a.continuing.relationship..Furthermore,.the.incentives.to.
secure. a. renewal. or.extension.of. an. existing.contractual.agreement.may.adversely.
inluence.university.scientist.behavior.under.a.current.collaboration.
Rights.to.IP.are.especially.contentious..Hold-up.and.background.rights.are.of.pri-
mary.concern.to.an.industry.partner.interested.in.commercializing.the.products.of.a.
research.partnership..Researchers.at.universities.and.other.public.institutions.often.
use. proprietary. or. enabling. IP. research. tools. in. their. research. without. obtaining.
rights..They.are.sometimes.blocked,.however,.for.any.research.discoveries.that.have.
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