Workshop: The Changing Role of Public Sector Research in Innovation

The workshop was arranged by the CAS project Understanding Innovation.

It began with introductory presentations by Magnus Gulbrandsen and David Mowery. The remaining program may be summarized as follows:

(1) UI Relations: What do we know, where do we go? (with discussion led by Jan Fagerberg)

  • Ben Martin. UI relations in longer-term historical perspective – what’s new? and is it threatening?
  • Jerry Thursby (Georgia Institute of Technology). University Licensing – Implications for Faculty Research (with M. Thursby)
  • Francesco Lissoni (Università Bocconi). Academic entrepreneurs – critical issues and lessons for Europe (with C. Franzoni)
  • Benoit Godin (Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Montreal). The Place of Universities in Science, Technology, and Innovation Policies

(2) A broader picture of UI relations (with discussion led by Sjur Kasa)

  • Reijo Miettinen (University of Helsinki). Relation between commercialisation of research results, research and teaching
  • Mike Wright (Nottingham University Business School). The business school – Technology Transfer Office (TTO) relationship
  • Magnus Gulbrandsen. Research institutes and UI relations

(3) Interaction between universities and industry, recent empirical evidence (with discussion led by David Mowery)

  • Alice Lam (University of London). Work roles, careers and professional orientations of academic scientists in university-industry links
  • Maria-Theresa Larsen (Copenhagen Business School). Too close for comfort? The effect of university-industry collaboration on the scientific performance of university professors

(4) Academic patenting and its impacts (with discussion led by Magnus Gulbrandsen)

  • Jeannette Colyvas (Northwestern University). Measures, metrics, and myopia: the challenges and ramifications of sustaining academic entrepreneurship (with W. Powell)
  • Aldo Geuna (University of Sussex). The impact of academic patenting on university research and its transfer (with O. Babalola, G. Crespi and P. D’Este)
  • Marie Thursby (Georgia Institute of Technology). Inventor moral hazard in university licensing – the role of contracts (with E. Dechenaux and J. Thursby)

(5) Geography and industry perspectives on UI relations (with discussion led by Paul Nightingale)

  • Arvids Ziedonis (University of Michigan). The Geographic Reach of Market and Non-Market Channels of University Research Commercialization (with D. Mowery)
  • Rudi Bekkers (Eindhoven University of Technology). Analysing preferences for knowledge transfer channels between universities and industry: To what degree do sectors matter?
  • Pablo D’Este (University of Sussex). Gaining from interaction with university: multiple methods for building absorptive capacity (with K. Bishop)

(6) Entrepreneurial academics, new evidence (with discussion led by Ben Martin)

  • Janet Bercovitz (University of Illinois). The Quest for Better Relevance: building a better innovation team (with M. Feldman)
  • Andrea Bonaccorsi (Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa). Tradeoffs between commercialisation and basic research/publishing are circumstantial and local
  • Waverly Ding (University of California – Berkeley). Divergent Paths or Stepping Stones: a comparison of scientists’ diversity and entrepreneurial activities (E. Choi)

The workshop was concluded with final remarks made by David Mowery and discussion led by Maryann Feldman.