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This multiple case study explores how researchers are motivated to perform their third mission activities in terms of collaborative projects with public and private actors. The study also investigates the involvement of universities' third mission support personnel and technology transfer executives in the collaboration. The study contributes new insights into individual motivations for academic engagement and commercialisation. This is done by empirically demonstrating that commercialisation projects are based on ideas originated from novel and basic research, while academic engagement is based more on the general knowledge and capabilities of researchers and their research groups. The findings also revealed that motivations for taking on third mission activities were mainly about disseminating the results of research to wider society, rather than being driven by monetary rewards. This is demonstrated not only for the researchers, but also for the external partners, the support personnel, and technology transfer executives. The findings further imply that researchers are more satisfied with the support structure set up at their university for academic engagement projects than with the support structures for commercialisation of research, such as technology transfer offices. The findings can have implications for both policymakers and practitioners within knowledge and technology transfer.

The National Cancer Institute established a dissemination and implementation accelerator program called Speeding Research-tested INTerventions (SPRINT) in order to expedite the translation of behavioral research into practice. The goal of SPRINT is to introduce researchers to a new method for moving their research into practice in order to increase the real-world impact of their evidence-based interventions. The goal of this article is to present case studies on three teams that have completed the SPRINT program to date. Each case study provides a description of the intervention the team came into the program with, the team's motivation for participating in the SPRINT program, the team's experience in the program, lessons learned from "customer discovery" interviews conducted by the team during the course, and the team's future plans for their intervention. The case studies suggest that by focusing on behavioral researchers, SPRINT addresses an unmet need in the commercialization training space; that the definition of "success" can vary across SPRINT projects; that identifying and engaging "payors" for behavioral interventions is an ongoing challenge; and that there are potential "misalignments" between the research process and market demands. Overall, these examples show that customer discovery is a potentially useful method for making interventions more responsive to the needs of stakeholders, and that researchers can benefit from learning the "language" of business and working with individuals who have business experience before trying to move their research from the lab to the real world., (Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Behavioral Medicine 2019.)

Regenerative medicine research at university laboratories has outpaced commercial activity. Legal, regulatory, funding, technological, and operational uncertainty have slowed market entry of regenerative medicine treatments. As a result, commercial development has often been led by entrepreneurial ventures rather than large biopharma firms. Translating regenerative medicine across the university-industry boundary links academic scientists, technology transfer organizations, funders, and entrepreneurs. Conflicting motivations among the participants may significantly hinder these efforts. Unproven downstream business models for regenerative medicine delivery further complicate the entrepreneurial process. This chapter explores the challenges associated with entrepreneurial activity commercializing regenerative medicine science developed at research institutions.

Translation of biomedical technology originated in academia to the market is hindered by lack of consideration of market needs and commercialization pathways that leads academic research away from the market, leaving the public without long-awaited cures. Here we describe Reverse Conceptual Product Engineering (RECOPE), an approach applied in academic setting early in the course of the research project to facilitate biomedical research translation from bench to bedside. By using expertise of diverse set of biomedical professionals and trainees to solve a problem, RECOPE helps to make research goals more relevant to the society needs and translatable in a long-term perspective. Through the use of RECOPE one can critically reassess research design and translational potential and identify new market opportunities. RECOPE also provides for considerable educational opportunities to pre- and post-doctoral trainees. Adoption of RECOPE as a basic to for research design education will have a noticeable impact on academic research., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This paper deals with the short- and long-term transnational mobility of academics and some of its impacts, an issue not well addressed in the literature. Through a qualitative literature review, the paper aims to answer the question: What are some of the academic impacts of the transnational mobility of academics? Transnational academic mobility is academic travel across borders of states and is one aspect of the new internationalisation of higher education. It is presented in terms of the roles of academics in teaching-learning experiences as well as knowledge production and transfer. The discussion extends to unpacking the impacts of the transnational mobility of academics in relation to institutional affiliation and academic status and profile. These issues are emphasised because they are major academic issues of transnational academics. From these perspectives, mobile academics have gained benefits but sometimes also faced challenges.

Universities facilitate academic entrepreneurship or their 'third mission' by making available supporting mechanisms such as science and technology parks, incubators, and entrepreneurship programs. Botswana's STEM University seeks to develop a technology park in which it will commercialize the research and intellectual property developed by its faculty members, students, research centers and the country's private sector through incubation and other processes. As a business support process, technology business incubation nurtures start-up companies and mitigates the risk of their early failure. In this enabling environment, start-ups can concentrate on technology transfer and later "hatch" or leave the incubator financially viable and self-sustaining. Pursuing academic entrepreneurship and the university-model of technology business incubation present benefits for the country, the local community and the university in terms of economic development, economic diversification, job creation, technology development, viable firms, successful products, and the enhancement of university income and prestige. However, university and faculty culture, and the extent of faculty members' knowledge and skills in entrepreneurship and social capital may temper this potential. Utilizing a narrative review of the literature, this paper sought to identify critical issues a newly-participating university should be aware of as it seeks to adopt the university-model of business incubation to facilitate its transformation from a primary focus on its traditional research and teaching missions to one also based on the formal commercialization activities characterizing academic entrepreneurship. The paper informs on approaches the university may adopt to encourage academic entrepreneurship among its faculty members.

Research and technology commercialization at research-intensive universities has helped to develop provincial economies resulting in university startups, the growth of other new companies and associated employment. University technology transfer offices (TTOs) oversee the process of technology transfer into the commercial marketplace and these organizational units can be considered in the context of enabling effective knowledge management. However, what enables productive TTO performance has not been comprehensively researched. Therefore, this research study adopted the knowledge-based view as the theoretical construct to support a comprehensive investigation into this area. This was achieved through employing a systematic literature review (SLR) combined with a robust meta-analysis. The SLR identified an initial total of 10,126 articles in the first step of the review process, with 44 studies included in the quantitative synthesis, and 29 quantitative empirical studies selected for the meta-analysis. The research study identified that the relationship between TTO knowledge management and knowledge deployment as well as startup business performance is where TTOs secure the strongest returns.

Biobanks will be essential to facilitate the translation of genomic research into real improvements to healthcare. Biobanking is a long-term commitment, requiring public support as well as appropriate regulatory, social and ethical guidelines to realize this promise. There is a growing body of research that explores the necessary conditions to ensure public trust in biomedical research, particularly in the context of biobanking. Trust is, however, a complex relationship. More analysis of public perceptions, attitudes and reactions is required to understand the primary triggers that influence gain and loss of trust. Further, the outcomes of these analyses require detailed consideration to determine how to promote trustworthy institutions and practices. This article uses national survey data, combined with the results of a community consultation that took place in Tasmania, Australia in 2013, to analyze the specific issue of public reactions to commercialization of biobanks and their outputs. This research will enhance the ability of biobanks to respond preemptively to public concerns about commercialization by establishing and maintaining governance frameworks that are responsive to those concerns. The results reveal that it is possible to counter the 'natural prejudice' that many people have against commercialization through independent governance of biobank resources and transparency with regard to commercial involvement. Indeed, most participants agreed that they would rather have a biobank with commercial involvement than none at all. This analysis provides nuanced conclusions about public reactions towards commercialization and equips researchers and biobank operators with data on which to base policies and make governance decisions in order to tackle participant concerns respectfully and responsively., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The literature on Entrepreneurial University has emphasised the importance of encouraging and supporting the entrepreneurial intent of students, both PhDs and undergraduates. However, more research is needed about how PhD students can be supported in their entrepreneurial and technology transfer initiatives. This study seeks to contribute to this field by investigating how the entrepreneurial intent and entrepreneurial education of PhDs can impact their creation of new ventures and their involvement in technology transfer activities. With this objective, we use a unique dataset of 396 PhD students enrolled in Italian universities. The results show that higher levels of entrepreneurial intention of PhDs lead to a higher number of new ventures and higher involvement in TT activities. Furthermore, our findings also show that entrepreneurship education encourages PhDs to create new ventures only through increased entrepreneurial intention. Finally, education on technology transfer directly pushes them to be more involved in commercialisation activities.

This article focuses on the initial steps of commercial development of a patentable scientific discovery from an academic center through to marketing a clinical product. The basics of partnering with a technology transfer office (TTO) and the complex process of patenting are addressed, followed by a discussion on marketing and licensing the patent to a company in addition to starting a company. Finally, the authors address the basic principles of obtaining clearance from the Food and Drugs Administration, production in a good manufacturing practice (GMP) facility, and bringing the product to clinical trial., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Microfluidic devices offer automation and high-throughput screening, and operate at low volumes of consumables. Although microfluidics has the potential to reduce turnaround times and costs for analytical devices, particularly in medical, veterinary, and environmental sciences, this enabling technology has had limited diffusion into consumer products. This article analyzes the microfluidics market, identifies issues, and highlights successful commercialization strategies. Addressing niche markets and establishing compatibility with existing workflows will accelerate market penetration., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Over the past 20 years, the ethos of academic entrepreneurialism has significantly influenced the Hong Kong higher education sector. As entrepreneurialism is an increasingly popular restructuring strategy for Hong Kong universities, they have begun to shift their paradigms from purely upholding the mission of research and teaching to the third mission of promoting economic and social development. Knowledge transfer (KT), which involves licensing, spin-offs, consultancy, collaborative research between universities and industry, is one common strategy to achieve such goal. This article focuses on knowledge transfer polices of Hong Kong universities and attempts to examine their impact on academic professions.

In an increasingly innovation-driven economic environment, universities serve as engines of economic growth by igniting innovation, fueling entrepreneurship, and inspiring the next generation of scientists and professionals. While universities are committed to enhancing their economic impact, university 'economic engagement' is in many ways an emerging field. This research investigates key strategies used by US research universities to drive economic engagement by analysing 55 successful applications for the Innovation and Economic Prosperity (IEP) University designation, which consist of extensive self-study exercises, using a grounded theory approach. Six key strategies emerge from this corpus: forming mutually beneficial partnerships with industry, developing collaboration networks with relevant communities, building an innovation culture, supporting researchers in bringing research outcomes to market, promoting the transfer of new technologies to industry, and encouraging entrepreneurial activities. These results can serve as a guide for universities seeking the best-practices to advance their economic engagement.

Realizing the growing importance of universities in Knowledge Transfer and innovation-centric entrepreneurship, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) actively encourages government-funded universities in Hong Kong to work with the market and industry, as well as wider society to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship. This article aims to examine the changing university governance in Hong Kong particularly when universities go beyond the academia to work with industries and businesses to promote innovation-centric entrepreneurialism. It begins with a conceptual framework for analyzing multiple sectoral collaborations for entrepreneurship with a focus on the role of universities. It will discuss how the HKSAR copes with the main challenges of university governance by adopting policies and measures to creating a hybridized ecosystem so as to embrace cross-sectoral collaborations. The article concludes by critical reflections on changing university governance in Hong Kong when responding to the quest for entrepreneurial universities.

This study investigated academic norms related to faculty engagement with industry in one public research-intensive university in the United States in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medical (STEMM). Primary methods included exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, logistic regression, and ANOVA applied to responses to a survey instrument we implemented based on current literature on university/industry linkages. Results show how faculty embrace the coexistence of different logics in their norms differing by rank, type of engagement with industry, prior experience working in the industry, and field. Overall, faculty in this study hold values traditionally associated with the academic profession except when there are possibilities of participating in the market and seek commercial gain from research.

The introduction of competitive rankings and research assessment frameworks have necessitated that research organisations continually monitor their research strengths and weaknesses. Such monitoring is essential to be able to strategically respond in a competitive environment. There is little research on the role of research management in research organisations, including universities, but the literature suggests that when implemented well, research management is an essential component of the research process. Despite this, an evidence-based understanding of the strategies available for successful research management is lacking. In order for organisations to structure their research management strategies more efficiently, as well as to inform practitioners of the best way to deliver their service, an understanding of the evidence for successful research management strategies is needed. The aim of this article is to provide a systematic review to investigate the evidence base for successful research management strategies.

Extrinsic and intrinsic motivations are simple concepts that our students seem to quickly understand, yet few of our students grasp the complexity of sustaining intrinsic motivation. This exercise aims to help students better understand that complexity. Students are given a two-part scenario. In Part 1, the individual motives to innovate are intrinsic (e.g., to have societal impact); in Part 2, the individual is faced with realities that constrain the impact of the innovation (e.g., policies to protect idea ownership and profit). The scenario is purposefully based on an important topic unfamiliar to students (childhood cancer research), which provides an opportunity for inductive learning, and keeps student perceptions between Part 1 and Part 2 separate. The exercise allows for discussion of motivation theory, incentives, ethical decision making, and transformational leadership. In advanced entrepreneurship classes the exercise may help students understand intrapreneurship and technology commercialization. The exercise pairs well with Kerr's classic article, "The folly of rewarding A . . . ," on the juxtaposition between goals and incentives. Suggestions for an article and video on childhood cancer research are also provided for the instructor to use to increase perceptions of validity of the scenario. Target audiences for this exercise include undergraduate, graduate, and executive groups.

In the early 1960s, Clark Kerr, the famed American educationalist and architect of the California public higher education system, took up the task of describing the emergent model of the contemporary American university. Multiversities, as he called them, were the large powerful American universities that packaged the provision of undergraduate, professional and graduate education and focused intensively on research production. Kerr was describing the model of the Anglo-American research university that had emerged in the U.S. during the first half of the 20th century. This model shared or had borrowed characteristics with older models for how a university is constituted and how it interacts with society, but it was also a novelty in a variety of ways. One of the major differences between Kerr's university model and those preceding it was that instead of having one central animating idea, the multiversity had many. One of the uses of the multiversity that has gained prominence over the past three decades in particular is the transfer of technology and research for industrial use and economic growth. This university function has risen in importance in conjunction with the emergence of the knowledge economy (OECD, 1996) and the increased recognition that universities are of central importance to economic growth, competitiveness and industrial innovation as part of complex national systems of innovation (Dill & van Vught, 2010). While few universities were engaged in substantial efforts at research commercialization or technology transfer when Kerr was writing his book "The Uses of the University," nearly all universities are doing so now, to varying degrees of success (Phan & Siegel, 2006; Geiger & Sa, 2008). Five decades after Kerr's landmark book, it is opportune to assess how the technology transfer "use of the university" fits into Kerr's model today, and how the widespread appearance of technology transfer offices (TTOs) may be changing the structure and functioning of the contemporary university and of society. This paper explores the ways that the evolving commercialization mandate for research and its most important related structure, the TTO can be understood with reference to the multiversity and its historical antecedents. It also seeks to advance understanding of how TTOs may affect the internal balance of power in the multiversity. It employs as a specific historical example the University of Wisconsin, known to have one of the oldest and strongest technology transfer offices (Geiger and Sa, 2008).The first section traces the historical evolution of university models that build up to Kerr's model of the multiversity. Next, the TTO is defined and contextualized. Finally, the University of Wisconsin's TTO, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) is introduced and some examples of its powerful role within the university, and more broadly, are provided.

Intellectual property has become a highly coveted asset that can potentially reap a financial windfall for the owner who exploits its utility. Higher education has focused on the discovery of new knowledge, which can translate into intellectual property, but legislation, higher education policy, and/or contractual engagement may dictate ownership or opportunities for ownership of intellectual property by those involved in the discovery process. The dissemination of new knowledge acquired in the discovery of intellectual property may be limited for purposes of protection of commercial development. At the same time, higher education is becoming more involved in the oversight of technology transfer, oversight that includes seeking funding for academic research by private investors, licensing of intellectual property, and serving as a liaison for economic development for local communities. Because of the investment of time and resources in the development of intellectual property, a discovery may result in conflict over ownership, which may, in turn, lead to litigation. The complexity of the overall process of academic discovery moving into commercialization is fraught with challenges and potential conflict.

The backbone of the European innovation strategy is knowledge transfer from universities to companies, the programmes supporting the creation of university spin-offs being one of its pillars. In order to achieve a better understanding of this kind of entrepreneurial activity in Spain, this article analyses the relationship between research activity and the creation of spin-offs and identifies the factors which can be linked to the level of technology used by these companies. Consulting the websites of Spanish universities and their respective Technology Transfer Offices (TTO) led to the identification of 499 spin-offs. We analysed two groups of universities, correlating their number and technological nature with the research potential of the parent university, the general economic situation and the assistance received in creating this type of company. We found a positive relation between the creation of university spin-offs and the average number of projects achieved by the university. In addition, their technological nature is positively related to the number of patents awarded to the university. This article focuses on Spain. However, the aspects addressed are common to other countries and its results may therefore be of interest to universities and policy makers wishing to promote the commercialisation of research outcomes.

While knowledge-intensive societies rely heavily on universities for the creation of knowledge, its translation into economic value is typically performed by firms in the market. Since universities increasingly depend on additional funds for new and expensive research, current policies urge them to interact proactively with the market. The authors analyse how an entrepreneurial university creates, delivers and captures value by characterizing its business model. They develop a business model of the university as a research and teaching institution, with which they contrast purely private and purely public universities as two business model archetypes to show how these archetypes determine incentive and governance structures. They examine how the inclusion of commercial transfer as the "third mission" affects the university's income structure and thereby its objective and incentive structure. Within their business model framework, the authors derive strategic implications for the implementation of commercial transfer and the transition to the new business model.

Business organizations adopt innovation with the objective of meeting competition and improving their business performance; education organizations, likewise, operate in a competitive environment, are evaluated by stakeholders, and adopt innovation. The research presented here links these two sectors; its objective was to characterize the process of innovation adoption from the business sector by post-primary education organizations. Research data were collected from past and current projects in the education sector and from the perceptions of those involved in the adoption of innovation both in the education sector and in the business sector. The research results reveal a gap between the education sector's desire to learn from the business sector and its success in doing so. We explain this gap using a model that describes the perception of the adoption process of innovation in the education sector. According to this process, although the business sector adopts innovation in a proactive manner, the adoption of innovation by the education sector is of a reactive nature.

This paper explores how "social democratic" Sweden initiated and implemented choice reforms that attracted the interest of "liberal" England. By studying how English media framed and portrayed the Swedish free school "export" from 2008 to 2014, this paper aims to describe and discuss how a market-oriented policy idea, the Swedish system of free schools, is represented as it travels across national contexts. Initially, the Swedish free school model was portrayed as an inspiration for both the English political left and, in particular, the right. However, the national stereotypical representation of Sweden as a legitimate "reference society" was significantly toned down after the 2010 election--often accompanied by references to Sweden's poor performances in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The study shows how Swedish policy "retailers," such as school chain representatives, use the media for further display and reach. In summary, such educational policy retailing, along with media--policy interaction that (re)interprets national stereotypes linked to political legitimation, are important sources for understanding and further exploring international flows and interpretations of market-oriented reform ideas.

This introductory article deals with higher education (HE) transformations in Central and Eastern Europe in the context of democratization and globalization. The authors first briefly survey the wider canvas of reform since 1989, particularly probing the extent to which the countries of the region may be treated as a distinctive or a cohesive group. Diverging experiences with communism, international organizations and the European Union are highlighted, while attention is also focused on the differing degrees of marketization exhibited by academic systems across the region. Yet, notwithstanding such differences, it is clear that the countries of the region emerge as distinctive "laboratories of reform", privileged sites for understanding the interplay of external and domestic influences in the reshaping of the HE sector. Drawing on the findings of our contributors, the second part of the article then turns to understanding the domestic mediation of the processes of Europeanization and internationalization, identifying a series of key factors broadly discussed in terms of structures, norms and actors. This special issue thus aims to refine our understanding of HE transformations and internationalization in a post-authoritarian context. It further contributes more generally to debates on Europeanization and policy transfer in the field.

The educational exchange relationship between developed and developing (not accidentally non-Western) countries has always been characterized by imbalances and asymmetries. Accordingly, the traditional forms of North-South relationships have been between donors and recipients. International educational exchange between developed and developing countries needs to be located in a historical context of colonialism, and many constraints continue to pose barriers to genuine partnership. Today, neocolonialism is the relationship that developing countries have to deal with. The present international educational equation has certain institutional and intellectual "centers" that give direction, provide models, produce research, and in general function as the pinnacles of the academic system. At the opposite end of the spectrum are universities that are peripheral in the sense that they copy development from abroad, produce little that is original, and are generally not at the frontiers of knowledge. Educational institutions located in developing countries are strongly dependent on the institutions located in the centers. Meanwhile, the contemporary academic world is becoming increasingly multipolarized. A critical mass of non-Western scholarship is emerging, and beginning to force a reconsideration of traditional concepts and theories. The latest work in research fields is done at many more centers of scholarship than before. China, a giant periphery, as some scholars describe it, is especially noticeable and should be treated seriously, with its massive investment on research and development. Based on long-standing observation of the Chinese higher education system, this article explores the maintenance of international links in Mainland Chinese universities, set in an international context. It ends with some critical comments and constructive suggestions, with particular regard to the genuine collaboration and reciprocity in international educational exchange between the best institutions in the developed countries and their Chinese peers.

Our historical study of Canada's main research university illuminates the overlooked influence of national identities and interests as forces shaping the institutionalization of technology transfer. Through the use of archival sources we trace the rise and influence of Canadian technological nationalism--a response to Canada's perceived dependency on the United States' science and technology. Technological nationalism provided a symbol for producing a shared understanding of the desirability and appropriateness of technology transfer that legitimated the commercial activities of university scientists.

The open innovation perspective offers a powerful framework which can be used in developing an understanding of the relationships that are established between academia and industry in the process of technology transfer. This paper develops a fourfold classification of technology transfer activities based on consultancy and the protection of intellectual property rights, and identifies the factors characterizing each activity. An empirical study was conducted with a sample of 249 researchers affiliated to Italian universities and the results indicate that specific forms of technology transfer are associated with particular configurations of regional systems of innovation, academic organizations and the motivations of researchers. The authors find that exchanges of tacit knowledge benefit from social interaction, while those based on codified knowledge are less context-dependent. In addition, more complex forms of technology transfer--those combining tacit and codified knowledge--require a broader endowment of resources, at both individual and contextual levels. (Contains 5 tables and 2 figures.)

This study uses a sample of Japanese university scientists in life and materials sciences to examine how academic entrepreneurship has affected the norms and behaviors of academic scientists regarding sharing scientific resources. Results indicate that high levels of academic entrepreneurship in a scientific field are associated with less reliance on the gift-giving form of sharing (i.e., generalized exchange) traditionally recommended by scientific communities, and with a greater emphasis on direct benefits for givers (i.e., direct exchange), as well as a lower overall frequency of sharing. We observe these shifts in sharing behavior even among individual scientists who are not themselves entrepreneurially active; this suggests a general shift in scientific norms contingent on institutional contexts. These findings reflect contradictions inherent in current science policies that simultaneously encourage open science as well as commercial application of research results, and they suggest that the increasing emphasis on commercial activity may fundamentally change the normative structure of science. (Contains 4 tables, 4 figures and 22 notes.)

The transfer of academic technologies to industry is an important process underpinning innovation and economic development. Various approaches have been adopted by universities to encourage academics to participate in commercial activities. Many have implemented revenue sharing policies, through which the revenues generated from university-owned intellectual property (IP) are distributed to internal stakeholders, including the inventing academics. This article assesses the current revenue sharing policies of 84 UK universities. The findings are of relevance to policy makers and practitioners seeking to benchmark existing policies and to explore how academics can be further incentivized to commercialize their research. (Contains 4 figures, 2 tables and 6 notes.)

No one who's worked in higher education will ever confuse the experience with working in the corporate sector. Colleges and universities are simply not geared for the business of manufacturing or marketing products. The focus--as it should be--is on teaching and research. Given the wealth of talent among IT staff and faculty, however, higher ed institutions do develop cutting-edge IT solutions to in-house problems. In many cases, these same solutions could help other institutions. Are there benefits to distributing these products to a wider audience? What's in it for the institution itself? And how does a school even go about it? This article examines the benefits of the two major options: (1) open source; or (2) a commercialized venture. (Contains 1 online resource and a list of related readings.)

This article focuses upon the adoption and implementation of United Kingdom government support for third stream business-facing activities in UK higher education institutions (HEIs). The article, concerned with income generation and the creation and application of knowledge beyond the confines of the academy, draws on policy literature and qualitative data from research conducted in three contrasting HEIs. It reflects critically on the policy embrace of the third stream agenda in the UK, to suggest that despite increased UK government funding and policy pronouncements in support of such activities, the take-up and operationalisation at institutional level remains variable and piecemeal.

Over the last decade policies framing the enterprise agenda for UK higher education institutions (HEIs) have consistently emphasized the potential impact of successful universities on both regional and national economies. Such policies have been backed by significant public funding to ensure that the UK HEI sector is able to compete globally in the creation and exploitation of cutting-edge science. Collectively, these initiatives have led to the development of a "third mission" for universities--increasing the pace and impact of knowledge-exchange activities--while simultaneously maintaining and improving their more traditional research and teaching activities. Previous studies have demonstrated the contribution of universities to the growth of high-technology clusters as well as to knowledge exchange activities more generally. However, the extent to which these activities, particularly the formation of new university-related companies, deliver benefits to particular regions and cities is imperfectly understood. As a consequence, the economic and social impact of companies originating in universities in the UK is generally under-reported by official surveys, which frequently fail to capture details of the trajectories of such companies after formation. These considerations form the context for this paper, which presents the results from a detailed study of the impact of science and technology based academic spin-offs from a cross-section of London's HEIs. (Contains 10 tables, 4 figures and 12 notes.)

Regardless of the increased interest in technological innovation in universities, relatively little is known about the technology developed by academic scientists. Long-term analyses of researchers' technological contribution are notably missing. This paper examines university-based technology in Finland during the period 1900-85. The focus is on the quantity and technological specialization of applications created inside the universities and in the changes that occurred in scientists' technological output over nine decades. In the long-term analysis several aspects in universities' technological contribution, which are typically considered a recent phenomenon, turn out to have long historical roots. Thus the empirical evidence provided in the article challenges views emphasising that the world of science has faced a drastic change in recent decades.

A number of UK universities prioritize economic development or regeneration activities and for some of these universities such activities are the main focus of their knowledge transfer work. This study compares two regions of the UK--the North West and the South East of England--which have very different levels of economic performance. Quantitative data from the UK government's Higher Education Business and Community Interaction Survey are used to track economic development funding and activity from universities in these two regions. Strategy documents prepared for the fourth round of the government's Higher Education Innovation Fund are analysed to aid interpretations. Elements of evolutionary theory are used to explore the reasons for the differences and a case study of one university programme, Leading Enterprise and Development, is provided as an illustrative example. (Contains 5 notes, 3 tables and 14 figures.)

This empirical study investigates the hypothesized relationship between US federally funded university research and development (R&D) and its resulting economic impact, as measured by the level of licensing revenue generated by US universities. The author also examines the key operating statistics of the top-ten licensing income-producing technology transfer offices in the USA to determine what may differentiate them from their counterparts in other institutions and whether there are identifiable traits within the data that could be incorporated into a best practice model for the rest of the industry. It is found that there is a small but statistically significant correlation between R&D spending and economic impact. However, university licence income is found to be more a function of the system-wide volume of R&D funding than individual technology transfer office behaviour. (Contains 12 tables and 1 figure.)

The process of knowledge transfer has been extensively studied in the context of a variety of theoretical considerations. In this paper the authors adopt a communication theory perspective and focus on capacity for dissemination. Many studies assume that universities are able to disseminate and commercialize their knowledge (and technology). However, it has been shown in practice that dissemination and commercialization can be problematic. Following a review of the literature, the authors identify four topics connected with dissemination capacity: (1) the purpose of knowledge transfer; (2) the transformation of knowledge; (3) the importance of valuable knowledge from a respectable source; and (4) issues of network and inter-organizational dynamics that offer suggestions for further research. For each of these four topics, propositions are formulated as signposts for further studies and the implications for research in this area are outlined. (Contains 1 table.)