Peer Learning Activity on University – Business Partnerships (UBPs)

Peer Learning Cluster or other group

Background

The context of this PLA is the resolution of the European Council calling upon Member States “to facilitate, in line with national practices, universities' access to complementary sources of funding, including private ones, and to remove barriers to public-private partnerships with businesses.”

• How to establish strong and sustainable partnerships with the business community through collaboration with industry on university-based research and technology initiatives, to ensure better dissemination and exploitation of new knowledge in the economy and society at large.
• How can public-private partnerships with businesses be of support to the long term continuing financial strength of universities? How can fiscal regulations be used as an incentive to achieve this?

Prior to the event, the participants prepared brief national reports covering the following points:

• Higher education mission,
• Governance and organisational structures,
• Resources,
• The dissemination of knowledge,
• Mechanisms for the exploitation of knowledge/knowledge transfer,
• Human resource management,
• Inhibitors / incentives to relationships with the business sector.

Description

Key lessons from the PLA

• Assessing UBP opportunities,
• Ways of developing UBPs,
• Incentives,
• Promoting the entrepreneurial mentality,
• Changes at institutional level.

Recommendations and lessons deriving from this PLA very much supported the Commission’s recommendations in the Communication “Delivering on the modernisation agenda for universities: education, research and innovation”.

• Institutional autonomy and appropriate governance structures reinforced by strong leadership and management skills are seen as core-conditions to establish UBPs;
• It is crucial to provide the right incentives to institutions, academics and business for structured partnerships;
• It is important to pay attention to UBPs in different fields (technology, but also social sciences, humanities, etc.).