What is Knowledge Transfer:

a cornerstone of university life or an irritating distraction from research and teaching?

Dr. Graeme Reid

Knowledge exchange income 2001-2008

Sources: HEBCI surveys, PACEC/CBR analysis

Total

Contract research

Collaborative researchCoursesConsultancy

Facilities and equipmentIP revenues

Income stream

2,039

632

470404251

7351

2008 income

(£m)

100

31

232012

42

2008share of total (%)

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

2200

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Year

Kno

wle

dge

exch

ange

inco

me

(£ m

illio

ns, c

onst

ant 2

003

pric

es)

11

15

41516

1320

CAGR01-08

(%)

Regeneration 158 8 6

2

96

14

163029

613

Growth07-08

(£million)

-12

Source: Thomas Estermann, EUDIS Seminar, European University Association

Number of knowledge exchange staff 2003-2008

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Num

ber o

f sta

ff in

a d

edic

ated

bu

sine

ss a

nd c

omm

unity

role

Year

Number of staff, 2008

CAGR, 2003-2008 (%)

Average number of staff per HEI,

2008

1,334 15 10

3,561 13 28

1,920 18 15

Commercial sector

Public sector

Social / community

Source: HEBCI, PACEC/CBR analysis

“This time next year we'll be millionaires!”Source: Delboy Trotter, Nelson Mandela House, Peckham (BBC).

Why do academics do Knowledge Transfer?

4

21

8

17

27

70

10

23

24

26

49

75

0 20 40 60 80

% academics assigning score of 4 or 5 to criteria (0:low; 5:high)

2008

2001

Research/Publications

Generating Commercial Income for the University

Faculty/Departmental Administration

Work with Business/Industry

Teaching Ability/Workload

Work with the Local Community

Promotion criteria Perceived importance

Source: PACEC/CBR survey of academics 2008; PACEC/CBR analysis

Academic participation rate in knowledge exchange by discipline (based on academics engaging in at least one mechanism at least three times in the past three years)

75 7772 67

8781

73

52

72

All academics

Medical Science Technical Engineering Social Sciences

Humanities Language Other

Parti

cipa

tion

rate

(%)

Source: PACEC/CBR survey of academics 2008, PACEC/CBR analysis

Creating new businesses

• In the period 2003-2010, thirty seven university spin outs were floated on stock exchange with an IPO value of £1.7 billion.

• Twenty four university spin out companies were acquired by other business for a total value of £2.4 billion in the same period.

• Cambridge spin-outs ARM Holdings and Autonomy Corporation are now in the FTSE 100.

[Source: UNICO]

• Wolfson was spun out of Edinburgh University in 1984, and went public in 2002

Wolfson Microelectronics

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (Now part of Pfizer) invested £50m in the Scottish Translation Medicine Research Centre

Collaboration between Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow

• Extensive collaborations with the oil and gas industry:

Developing alongside Abertay University

350 creative industry companies in and around Dundee.

3,400 employees~£185m p.a. turnover

Rapid growth from 1999 to 2007.

Interactive Tayside estimate that between 70-80% of employment in the sector are based in Dundee

Computer Games in Abertay

Rolls Royce University Technology Centre on Electrical Power Systems.

Five ways to generate economic impact from research

Delivering highly skilled people to the labour market

Improving the performance of existing businesses

Improving public policy and public services

Attracting R&D investment from global business

Creating new businesses

Economic Impact

Economic Impact

Attracting R&D investment from global business

SOURCE: The implications of R&D off-shoring on the innovation capacity of EU firms (2007)Report by LTT for PRO INNO EUROPE – an EU Commission initiative (DG Enterprise & Industry)

Un

ited

Kin

gd

om

Fra

nce

Ger

man

y

Irel

and

Sp

ain

Sw

eden

Fin

lan

d

Net

her

lan

ds

Number of R&D FDI Projects by EU Destination Country (2002-2006)

The Research Base Matters

Leg

al

Sp

in

Co

sts

Res

tric

tio

ns

Tax

Bre

aks

Su

p E

xpo

rt

IP O

wn

er

Su

p S

ales

Gro

wth

Co

llab

Un

ivs

Un

iv F

acu

lty

IP

Pro

tect

R&

D T

alen

t

R&D Site Selection Factors for Developed Economy

Agree Importance

• In developed economies the most important factors are:

quality of R&D personnel strength of IPR

• R&D costs are not a deterrent

"Recent Trends in the Internationalisation of R&D in the Enterprise Sector", OECD Working Party on Statistics 2008

Attracting R&D investment from global business

Issues

• Can recent growth rates continue?

• Wider spread of disciplines?

• Should every university manage its own IP?

• Knowledge Transfer on an equal footing with teaching and research?