{"id":49,"date":"2016-02-23T13:19:09","date_gmt":"2016-02-23T13:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/healthpharma\/?p=49"},"modified":"2016-02-23T13:19:09","modified_gmt":"2016-02-23T13:19:09","slug":"university-industry-collaborations-how-to-connect-with-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/healthpharma\/2016\/02\/23\/university-industry-collaborations-how-to-connect-with-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"University-Industry Collaborations: How to connect with industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

An academic perspective<\/h1>\n

\"_3JB4434[1]\"<\/a>A university-industry collaboration manager is skilled in the art of matchmaking for scientific impact. The\u00a0premise is simple: either the academic is looking for industry partners to translate\u00a0fundamental research\u00a0or industry is seeking academic partners to further their R&D. The\u00a0problem is to find ways to meet the right people.\u00a0It is not a secret that, unless you\u00a0have published in the top scientific journals and \/\u00a0or come from a top world ranking university, it is likely that industry will not know about you. Therefore, if you wait in your lab, it is unlikely you will establish connections with the industry. My advice: be proactive, seize opportunities and, to ensure the smooth running of the collaboration, follow the processes (which will be discussed in\u00a0my next blog: How to make it work)<\/p>\n

First contact. \"alien-1015651_640small\"<\/a><\/h1>\n

Academics are experts at collaborations with their peers. I come from academia and\u00a0I know the prospect of meeting industry for the first time\u00a0can be daunting.\u00a0 However, unlike aliens, industry is more approachable than you think.\u00a0 The language might be different but you will use the same\u00a0skills you developed for academic collaborations. The first step is to identify the industry scientists who share your research interests.\u00a0 The scientists will have publications in peer reviewed journals and they will be attending\u00a0conferences.\u00a0\u00a0 You can look for them there.\u00a0 Patents are not necessarily something academics will look into but another way to search for scientist is to look at who has patents in your field of research.\u00a0 You can find info about patent in the\u00a0UK Intellectual Property Office website <\/a>and you can search published patents in Espacenet<\/a>.\u00a0 Your academic network is also important, as your colleagues may be able to introduce you to industry scientists.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Identifying the scientists who share your research interests is the first step and it is fairly straight forward.\u00a0 The problems\u00a0often arise when\u00a0time comes\u00a0to connect with industry scientists.\u00a0 Finding the contact information from the internet or publications is not always easy and cold calls are, well, not so\u00a0effective. Fear not, there are other options. \u00a0If you have the opportunity to meet someone at conferences, do not hesitate to talk with them (make sure you have a way to leave your details e.g. business card).\u00a0 If they give you their details, contact them as soon as you return to your office.\u00a0\u00a0If you cannot find a way to meet the scientist you have identified (or you don’t know where to find someone matching your interests),\u00a0you\u00a0can, as shown on the picture above,\u00a0contact your\u00a0university-industry collaboration manager who acts as a\u00a0broker.\u00a0As a collaboration manager, my\u00a0role is to establish relationships with\u00a0the Academic liaison and business managers of companies\u00a0and to understand the needs of industry.\u00a0 Therefore I\u00a0can enquire on your behalf inside the company hence facilitating the connection between academics and scientists.<\/p>\n

Keep\u00a0the conversation going!<\/h1>\n

\"chat-309417\"<\/a>Academics are looking for the best collaborators; so are the scientists from industry. Once you have established you have shared interests, the discussions should lead to solid science, top expertise and clear problems. Set well-defined objectives and, most importantly,\u00a0do not overpromise. Be prepared to work outside your immediate research interest.\u00a0\u00a0 There might be great chemistry between the academic and the scientist but, the project has to match\u00a0 the needs of the company and that can change without warning.\u00a0 When the\u00a0company’s focus change, your current discussion might die out so don’t be discouraged; keep your relation with the scientist alive\u00a0and try to create new links.\u00a0 Throughout the conversations, let the industry lead the way, listen to their needs\u00a0and keep an open mind.\u00a0 After all, they are the expert on translation; you might be surprise where it will take your research.<\/p>\n

Keys assets for success.<\/h1>\n

\"key-249048\"<\/a>Any connection will grow if the relationship is built on trust and communication. \u00a0Remember that scientists’ key assets are their access to market, the challenge they bring to you and their translational expertise. The quality of your research, blue sky thinking\u00a0and your unique expertise are your key assets to move the\u00a0collaboration forward. Ultimately, as in any good relationship, you and the way you communicate with and respond to your industry collaborator are key to your success.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About the author<\/h1>\n

\"photo<\/a>I trained as a system neuroscientist and I worked as an academic for many years in Canada, the UK and Denmark. I venture into industry with my own company and, for the last few years, I have been a University-Industry collaboration manager in the Health and Pharma sector for the University of Southampton.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An academic perspective A university-industry collaboration manager is skilled in the art of matchmaking for scientific impact. The\u00a0premise is simple: either the academic is looking for industry partners to translate\u00a0fundamental research\u00a0or industry is seeking academic partners to further their R&D. The\u00a0problem is to find ways to meet the right people.\u00a0It is not a secret that, unless you\u00a0have published in the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","column","twocol"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/healthpharma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/healthpharma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/healthpharma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/healthpharma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54178"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/healthpharma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/healthpharma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/healthpharma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49\/revisions\/79"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/healthpharma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/healthpharma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/healthpharma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}