UIDP is undertaking a year-long effort to directly address the need to strengthen and modernize university-industry partnerships through bold approaches that dramatically increase impact from collaborative innovation.
Sept. 11, 2024 — UIDP, a global association of leading companies and universities, is launching a year-long effort to directly address the need to strengthen and modernize university-industry partnerships through bold approaches that dramatically increase the impact of collaborative research and innovation. UIDP’s initiative will gather input during listening sessions in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe to produce strategic recommendations for collaborative research partnerships—both pragmatic and aspirational—to guide the R&D community going forward.
The program was conceived to address feedback from the UIDP member and nonmember community on the need for new approaches and, more recently, in response to public calls to action. In mid-2024, Marcia McNutt, president of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and Dario Gil, senior vice president and director of IBM Research and current chair of the National Science Board, urged stakeholders across the research enterprise to take assertive and creative action to recoup U.S. leadership in science and technology to ensure a robust pipeline of future innovations that benefit society. McNutt specifically articulated the need to strengthen and modernize university-industry (U-I) partnerships as a critical step.
“Organizations across the globe are piloting new approaches to optimize research partnerships, but those efforts need to happen faster and be more broadly adopted,” said Anthony Boccanfuso, UIDP president and CEO. “UIDP sees the need and the opportunity to galvanize a critical mass of stakeholders across sectors—government, academia, industry, nonprofits, and private funders—to lend their expertise and knowledge to this effort.
“Society benefits from innovation, and strengthening and modernizing university-industry collaboration is a critical part of the equation,” he added. “UIDP is the logical leader, convener, and partner for this project, which will identify strategic, tactical, and sector-specific recommendations for evaluation and adoption.”
The resulting body of knowledge will include actionable and diverse recommendations that organizations can consider for adoption. The content will align with these key focus areas:
• Compliance and contracts. Enhancing public trust in science by reducing conflicts of interest and enhancing transparency.
• Infrastructure. Strengthening innovation ecosystems, expanding research capacity, and design and use of shared research space.
• Joint investments and engagement. Coordinating R&D resources for impact across university, industry, government, and nonprofit sectors.
• Talent. Building a future-focused talent pipeline through innovative approaches in preparation and recruitment.
Get Involved
This initiative requires effort, insights, and support from companies, universities, nonprofits, and governments (both at the national and regional levels) to inform action steps at every point. The process will be continuously informed by the voices of engaged stakeholders through facilitated, in-person sessions at strategic locations around the world, augmented by online events. There are myriad ways to support this effort – propose or participate in listening sessions, provide case studies from today’s most innovative partnerships, or invest in these activities. UIDP is committed to sharing these approaches through case studies and briefs across the course of the year through this public portal.
Please share your ideas for strengthening and modernizing U-I partnerships. UIDP seeks case studies and information about existing programs to share as they build a body of knowledge that can help strengthen and modernize U-I partnerships and ultimately improve the state of science and engineering.
More information about the initiative is available on the Strengthen and Modernize U-I Partnerships portal.