Industry veterans of university partnerships reveal what they like to see — and what they don’t
Excerpted from the May 2024 issue of University-Industry Engagement Advisor. UIDP members can view the entire issue here.
From initial contact to the inking of an important agreement, experienced university partnership managers from industry know what works for them — alignment of needs and capabilities, a willingness to compromise during negotiations, and a university staff composed primarily of generalists who can ferret out possibilities within the complex milieu of a large research university.
Conversely, they also know what doesn’t work. They know how non-starters begin, how negotiations can bog down and even crumble, how the culture of an institution can hinder private investment, and how, at least in some cases, the alumni network is not as effective as many might think.
As the landscape for university-industry partnering continues to evolve — for example, with the advent of AI-powered search platforms for matchmaking — many of the old ways of doing business are dying off or improving. However, familiar stumbling blocks remain. And getting past those stumbling blocks, sooner rather than later, is key if a university wants to remain competitive in the world of sponsored research and industry-academia alliances.
Karl Haider and Ed Krause, two U-I partnership veterans now consulting with UIDP-affiliated UI Collab, spoke with UIEA about what they like, and don’t like, to experience when working with universities — and how to make things better.