Block 2: University Business Cooperation: promoting change and impact Keith Herrmann Higher Ed Research
May 26, 2015
Block 2: University Business Cooperation: promoting
change and impact
Keith HerrmannHigher Ed Research
Workshop 2.1 Delivering results: assessing the outcomes of educational cooperation
• Ongoing project contracted by the European Commission is exploring the outcomes of educational areas of cooperation.
• Types of cooperation: – curriculum design; – curriculum delivery; – exchange/mobility; – entrepreneurship education; – bespoke education; – continuous professional development.
Approaches to assessing outcomes of educational cooperation
• Measure outcomes with a user-centred approach to cooperation vs peer recognition.
• Use eco-system metaphor = pool assets of universities, SMEs and large companies (leverage diversity of roles) for common success.
• Evaluation frameworks for measuring UBC: – innovation – brand – talents – business – education
Benefits of cooperation• Fuse funding + coaching + go to
market to accelerate knowledge, ideas and next generation business.
• Beyond co-created knowledge, business can help universities develop global brands.
• If universities open, then can harvest the creativity and energy of SMEs - move faster.
• BUT universities can be very slow to market!
Recommendations• Synchronise the dots - connect/
share EU initiatives. • If take an eco-system approach,
how many of these jobs will be created in Europe?
• Can we duplicate the model in other industries?
• Speed is essential - quick decision making.
• Systematic evaluation leads to more transparency and comparability.
• Dialogue and exchange leads to best practice sharing.
Workshop 2.2 Partnering for change
• Leveraging synergies despite differences between universities and business; use differences (in roles) for advantage.
• Pressures to restructure driven by the nexus of the research-education value chains.
• Partnering can stimulate internal change in faculties/departments.
• Blend modalities of activity = curiosity, operational context, application orientation, and research by design.
Partnering across roles• Collaborative decision making in context of the
knowledge triangle = national government, industry cluster, research institutes and local authorities.
• Adopt innovation eco-system as model for collaboration (EIT).
• Must take account of the rigidities of old structures - difficult to overcome.
• Open innovation models are forcing change to the patterns of cooperation between universities and business.
Types of cooperation• Support Masters and PhD students
via stipends. • Research projects with universities
around the world. • Internships and placements from 1
month to 1 year. • Shared research facilities. • Endowed Science Chairs. • Graduate recruitment - access to the
best talent. • Co-publications. • Teaching activities. • Donations. • Free software for students.
Summary
• Can universities break out of their subject discipline silos to cooperate with business?
• Recognise that global business adopts a portfolio approaches to university-business cooperation - driven by complexity of issues.