An Empirical Assessment

Abstract

The concept of university-industry collaboration is an important social experiment in the nation's innovation system. This study examines the sustainability of this collabo- rative experience by focusing on the actual ''give-and-take'' outcomes between university faculty members and industrial firms. Based on two separate but similar surveys conducted in 1997, one for faculty members and another for industry tech- nology managers, the study reports that participants in re- search collaboration appear to realize significant benefits, some expected and others unexpected. The most significant benefit realized by firms is an increased access to new univer- sity research and discoveries, and the most significant benefits by faculty members is complementing their own academic research by securing funds for graduate students and lab equipment, and by seeking insights into their own research. Reflecting on their collaborative experience, an overwhelming majority of these participants say that in the future they would expand or at least sustain the present level of collaboration.