News & Blog

Sept. 2, 2026—Two years after UIDP launched the Strengthen and Modernize Initiative (SAMI), the effort is entering its second phase with new opportunities for the university-industry community to help develop practical and impactful approaches to some of the U.S. research ecosystem’s most persistent challenges.

SAMI was created as a call to action: bring together leaders from across sectors to identify barriers to effective collaboration and develop bold, scalable approaches to overcome them. This work would not have been possible without the support of SAMI’s initial funders, including Amazon, Arizona State University, Elsevier, Microsoft, and the U.S. National Science Foundation Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) Directorate

The first phase demonstrated what this process can produce. Following 18 months of stakeholder engagement focused on expanding funding streams and enhancing career preparation for STEM PhD students, UIDP launched the Industry-Integrated PhD (I-PhD) Scholars Program, a $90 million national pilot built around shared university-industry investment, dissertation-integrated industry research, and joint mentorship.

Building on that momentum, the next phase of SAMI will concentrate community expertise and resources on three priority areas where new models could strengthen collaboration and accelerate research impact.

Building Industry-Prepared PhD Talent Pipelines

The UIDP I-PhD Scholars Program addressed one part of a larger challenge: how doctoral education can better prepare researchers for careers across the contemporary research enterprise.

The next phase of SAMI expands that work by exploring additional approaches to industry preparedness. UIDP is creating a scalable, nationally recognized certificate program that will give doctoral students additional training in professional competencies valued in industry and cross-sector research environments. This is scheduled for launch no later than July 2027.

SAMI will also examine streamlined PhD models that could reduce time to degree and training costs while maintaining academic rigor and preparing graduates specifically for careers in industry. Existing models from across the U-I community, ranging from sustained industry research experiences to professional development and doctoral internship programs, provide important starting points. The next step is determining which elements can be adapted and scaled.

Advancing Industry-Driven Models for Collaborative Research

Companies regularly identify research challenges that are broader than a single sponsored project and may be shared across organizations. The next phase of SAMI will explore mechanisms that make it easier to turn those needs into collaborative research opportunities involving universities, companies, and other partners.

The work includes examining industry-led university research centers for precompetitive collaboration and exploring streamlined, multi-sponsor joint solicitations to facilitate investment by multiple organizations and agencies in areas of shared interest.

The objective is not to prescribe one model. It is to identify structures that allow industry priorities and university research strengths to connect more efficiently, attract broader investment, and create clearer pathways for products and services that benefit society.

Reimagining IP Management to Accelerate Research Translation

Intellectual property remains a persistent and significant source of complexity and friction in university-industry research collaboration. SAMI’s next phase will examine how IP is managed, negotiated, and valued with an eye toward streamlining collaboration and accelerating translation.

Recent UIDP 3-Minute Reads have highlighted alternative approaches ranging from the University of Utah’s IP-Free Zone to the University of Waterloo’s creator-owned IP model. These examples demonstrate how institutions can expand their toolkits and match IP approaches to the needs of specific technologies, industries, and partnerships.

SAMI will build on these discussions by developing guiding principles, decision frameworks, and other practical tools for IP management in cross-sector partnerships and examining how IP expectations differ among technical sectors. The goal is to help partners consider more flexible, fit-for-purpose structures that support access, alignment, and research translation.

SAMI Needs Your Perspective

SAMI was designed around a straightforward principle: meaningful change in the research ecosystem cannot be achieved by a single sector or organization working alone.

UIDP invites universities, companies, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, funders, and other research stakeholders to help shape this next phase. Participants can join listening sessions and working groups, contribute case studies and existing models, identify barriers, propose new approaches, support pilot development, and bring resources to promising ideas. To join the team, visit the SAMI page to get involved or share your ideas.

The first phase demonstrated that sustained cross-sector engagement can move an ambitious concept from discussion to implementation. In the next phase, UIDP is applying that proven process to the next generation of SAMI concepts, engaging the U-I community to refine ideas, test approaches, and move promising models toward implementation.

We want to hear from you. What new approaches should the research community be willing to test in the next phase of SAMI? Share your perspective on LinkedIn.

Go Deeper

• Explore the UIDP Strengthen and Modernize Initiative
• Learn about the UIDP Industry-Integrated PhD Scholars Program
• Watch the launch video for the next phase of SAMI

The 3-Minute Read is a UIDP member information piece and does not represent the opinions of our members or representatives. We welcome your comments on our LinkedIn profile.