A REPORT FOR THE DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY, AND INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY (BEIS) PREPARED BY RSM PACEC LTD Research into issues around the commercialisation of university IP February 2018 CONTENTS Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................................................... 3 1 Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................................................... 4 2 Methodology ............................................................................................................................................................... 13 2.1 Overview of work programme .......................................................................................................................... 13 3 Key elements in commercialisation process .............................................................................................................. 16 3.1 Influencing factors and transaction inputs ....................................................................................................... 16 3.2 Framework for primary research to assess views on policy ............................................................................ 17 3.3 Presentation of findings by key themes .......................................................................................................... /17 4 Skills and resources ................................................................................................................................................... 19 4.1 Roles, capacity and skills of university technology transfer offices ................................................................. 19 4.2 Academic capacity, resources, and incentives to commercialise .................................................................... 23 4.3 Capacity and skills of businesses (licensees and spin-outs) and investors .................................................... 27 4.4 Chapter conclusions ........................................................................................................................................ 29 5 Leadership and Management .................................................................................................................................... 31 5.1 University leadership ........................................................................................................................................ 31 5.2 IP policies, equity sharing, royalties and their negotiation ............................................................................... 34 5.3 Business management / Skills within commercialisation projects ................................................................... 39 6 Interpersonal relationships and networks .................................................................................................................. 42 7 Local economic conditions ......................................................................................................................................... 46 8 Funding and incentives for commercialisation and investment ................................................................................. 51 9 Availability of information ........................................................................................................................................... 57 10 Case Studies .............................................................................................................................................................. 62 10.1 Northern Ireland context: Queen’s University Belfast. ..................................................................................... 62 10.2 Scotland context: The University of Edinburgh ................................................................................................ 64 10.3 Wales context: Swansea University ................................................................................................................. 65 10.4 The University of Nottingham ........................................................................................................................... 66 10.5 The University of Manchester .......................................................................................................................... 67 10.6 Imperial College, University of London ............................................................................................................ 69 10.7 The University of York ...................................................................................................................................... 71 10.8 The University of Oxford .................................................................................................................................. 72 10.9 The University of Cambridge ........................................................................................................................... 74 10.10 Aston University ............................................................................................................................................... 74 11 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................................ 77 11.1 Overall conclusions .......................................................................................................................................... 77 12 Appendix A: University cluster analysis and sample selection .................................................................................. 80 12.1 Cluster analysis of university research ............................................................................................................ 80 12.2 University sample selection ............................................................................................................................. 82 RSM PACEC Ltd: Research into issues around the commercialisation of university IP | 1 13 Appendix B: Literature Review ................................................................................................................................... 85 13.1 The knowledge exchange and commercialisation model (KEC) ..................................................................... 85 13.2 The Commercialisation Process ...................................................................................................................... 85 13.3 Key Trends in knowledge exchange and commercialisation ........................................................................... 90 13.4 Key insights on factors affecting KEC from the literature ................................................................................ 91 13.5 Conclusions...................................................................................................................................................... 92 Literature Review (Additional Background) ................................................................................................................ 93 13.6 Limitations of the KEC Model........................................................................................................................... 93 13.7 Factors affecting knowledge exchange and commercialisation processes ..................................................... 95 13.8 Factors affecting commercialisation processes ............................................................................................... 98 13.9 Factors affecting research contracting negotiations ...................................................................................... 106 14 Appendix C: Key KEC Trends and international comparisons ................................................................................ 111 14.1 Key trends in knowledge exchange and commercialisation .......................................................................... 111 14.2 International comparisons on commercialisation ........................................................................................... 116 15 Appendix D: Potential policy approaches................................................................................................................. 117 15.1 Policy framework ............................................................................................................................................ 117 15.2 Summary of evidence from the surveys ........................................................................................................ 125 16 Appendix E: Detailed quantitative tables.................................................................................................................. 129 16.1 Influencing factors .......................................................................................................................................... 130 16.2 Set-up Phase ................................................................................................................................................. 133 16.3 During the negotiations .................................................................................................................................. 137 16.4 Post-transaction management ....................................................................................................................... 138 For further information contact .....................................................................................................................................