Why our research related work is important to you
As an academic at the University you are likely to be interested in winning funding and in undertaking interesting and stimulating research so that you can make your own unique contribution to pushing forward knowledge and communicating this to the research community so that it can be further developed and refined. You have a direct interest in winning funding for such research since the publications which ensue will develop your academic profile and career prospects, attracting further funding.
Sometimes, and at the earliest stages of an academic’s career, limited grant funding will be available to the University to fund research in a selected field. Since there are often no other parties involved this will be very straightforward, the University will have unfettered IP rights in the results and so there is no issue as to further use in future research and publication and so forth.
However, as research progresses an academic is likely to engage more widely with other academic institutions and with industrial collaborators not just at conferences but in research activities. He may want access to particular research materials, which another institution may be willing to furnish. He may want sponsorship from a commercial entity thus providing the University with funds and allowing the academic valuable insights into the company’s approach to commercialisation of research, insights into their research pipeline and sometimes relevant trade secrets.
Frequently involvement of industrial or commercial participators is a pre-requisite of publicly funded projects (which may require cash and/or in kind contributions from such industrial/commercial participators). The close co-operation between industry and academia and IP rights arising in consequence are highly prized by Government as being of immense importance to “UK Plc” and the sympathetic continued support of Government for research in Universities might be regarded as contingent thereon. Academics are in most cases enthused by these opportunities although sometimes the arrangements will require a tighter approach to IP than that perhaps with which they will have been familiar.
It is our job to ensure that the balance of benefits set out in the relevant Research Collaboration Agreement is fair and reasonable. In particular that the Academic’s and University’s twin overriding requirements of publication and availability of IP for future research are not prohibited or unduly restricted. It’s a cliché but “win win” really is a possibility:- for the University: research funding, publication, networks, access to and development of IP, exploitation rights outside the Company’s field of interest and a royalty or revenue share if it’s a winner; for the industrial participator: access to academic ingenuity and skills (both those directly related to the project and more widely) and IP to add to their pipeline and exploit; and for Government: synergy between Industry and Academia, the prospect of new products and technologies and the enhanced skills of those involved.
Related to Research Collaboration Agreements and your research activities are other legal agreements e.g. Material Transfer Agreements, enabling sharing of research materials, and related Confidentiality Agreements, which will often be used when prospective parties are discussing prospective bids and the technology that they are working on which might usefully be developed in such a collaboration. Clearly it is vital usually that the information disclosed should be subject to confidentiality obligations.