Gaule:  Please can you introduce yourself.

Hughes:  I am responsible for external partnerships at the science journal Nature. I am also involved in Macmillan Science & Education’s (Nature’s parent company) science communication business which provides custom solutions for researchers, universities and R&D-intensive firms. 

Gaule:  What were the reasons you wanted to study the University and Industry interaction? E.g. personal and company reason?

Hughes:  Journal publishers are facing some big challenges. A lot has been written about the growing mismatch between investment in research and in information budgets. This is placing pressure on the subscription model. As such, there is a need to think a little differently and to diversify. Innovative publishers are looking to understand where else in the research ecosystem they can add value. I am interested in the flow of knowledge from universities to commercial firms and the mechanisms of interaction at the university–industry interface. Maybe publishers have a role to play in facilitating collaboration between public and private researchers. This was the subject of my recent MBA thesis. 

Gaule:  What activities did you do to study the interaction?

Hughes:  I wanted to find out more about university-based scientists interactions with their counterparts in the private sector. I conducted a survey of UK academics working in the applied sciences. I asked about their frequency of involvement in a range of knowledge exchange mechanisms with industry, and their motivations for pursuing each. I also sought to establish whether there were challenges in making connections with industry and if so how they could be overcome.

Gaule:  Can you describe the interactions you found and those which were most prevalent?

Hughes:  My results were similar to several, previously published studies. Many, many more academics are engaged in relationship-based, collaborative forms of university–industry knowledge exchange such as joint research and consultancy than in formal technology transfer. Their primary motivations for doing so are to further their academic reputations rather than to benefit financially. Perhaps surprisingly, I found very little variation in responses between different subject areas and between high-ranked and low-ranked universities. 

Gaule:  How effective did you find the technology transfer and university academic entrepreneur programmes?

Hughes:  I didn’t really look too closely at Technology Transfer Offices, but it would seem that collaborative forms of knowledge exchange (which are so important) are initiated by academics as part of their natural networking within a community. Anything that their institutions could do to facilitate matchmaking with industry researchers is welcomed. The HEFCE figures confirm that collaborative mechanisms of university–industry knowledge exchange generate far more income for universities than licensing or spin-offs. 

Gaule:  What role did you find intermediaries can provide to help the interaction?

Hughes:  There are a number of independent intermediaries acting as brokers between universities and industry. Nature Publishing Group has a partnership with Innocentive which, in very simple terms, supports clients with specific innovation problems to solve by seeking solutions from outside communities of experts. My findings revealed that >40% of university researchers find connecting with their counterparts in industry challenging or extremely challenging. More than 50% felt that intermediaries help (or could help). 

Gaule:  Did you compare the UK to other countries and did you find any significant lessons to be learnt e.g. comparing to USA and China? 

Hughes:  No. I focused on the UK. I agree regional comparisons would be very interesting. There are a lot of bigger studies focused on the US where I believe universities are more entrepreneurial than in the UK.

Gaule:  What would be your key insights or recommendations to universities, industry and intermediaries. 

Hughes:  Researchers are social beasts. Knowledge exchange requires collaboration. It is rarely an arm’s-length, linear transaction. 

Gaule:  You used my book ‘Open Innovation in Action: How to be strategic in the search for new sources if value’ what were the key areas of insight for you?

Hughes:  Yes, a small gem of a book. You have looked at university–industry collaborations from the other side of the fence. It was interesting to learn what companies like Procter & Gamble are doing to shake up their innovation pipeline and the importance they place on external researchers. Also, there is a suggested template for a product development business plan in your book which I have ‘borrowed from’ often. 

Gaule:  What do you do to relax now you have finished the MBA research and dissertation? 

Hughes:  I have a large childcare debt to repay. But it’s great to have weekends back. I am currently enjoying watching England’s cricketers smash up the Australians. 

Disclaimer

These views are my own, and do not necessarily represent the views of Nature, Nature Publishing Group or Macmillan Science & Education.