UC Davis needs to put a higher value on moving ideas from the laboratory to the marketplace, with an approach that goes beyond counting patents and licenses, according to a report from the chancellor's Blue-Ribbon Committee on Technology Transfer and Commercialization.

"The true benefits of research are realized when the science is converted into practice," said the committee chair, Andrew Hargadon, a Chancellor's Fellow, professor in the Graduate School of Management and faculty director of the Center for Entrepreneurship.

"The university doesn't expect faculty to become entrepreneurs, but there needs to be a place in our culture that recognizes faculty who see their research move out into the world."

Among the committee's top recommendations:

• Provide opportunities for faculty, staff and students to develop and demonstrate the commercial value of their inventions.

• Make it easier for faculty to get involved in technology transfer and commercialization.

• Merge the existing InnovationAccess and Industry Research Agreements units to foster long-term relationships with industry that uphold the university’s mission.

• Set and communicate clear objectives and priorities for technology transfer and commercialization that support these goals.

The report calls for establishing standards for transparency, timeliness and accountability for the offices handling patents, licensing and industry research agreements.

Blue-ribbon assignments

The committee was one of two set up by Chancellor Linda Katehi in December 2009 to advise on how UC Davis can expand its research enterprise and increase the transfer of university inventions to public use, respectively. In addition to these committees, the chancellor engaged a team of consultants from The Washington Advisory Group, which provides strategic advice to research universities, governments, companies and nonprofit organizations.

The Washington Advisory Group team, led by Eric Bloch, former director of the National Science Foundation, held three days of meetings on campus in April and issued its own report to the chancellor. The consultants received a fee of $226,000 plus up to $30,000 in reimbursable expenses under the contract, which ran through June 30, 2010.

Hargadon's committee, made up of faculty from across the campus, including a number of inventors with experience patenting their work, met with UC Davis administrators and faculty and heard presentations by technology transfer officers from other leading universities.

The Blue-Ribbon Committee on Research issued its draft report in May and asked for comment through June 11. The report called for “a research culture and administration support structure that streamlines campus administrative processes, changes its goal to be mitigation of compliance risk rather than seeking to eliminate risk, and views its mission to be enabling faculty and research teams to thrive in their research endeavors.” The final report is due out by mid-August.

Rooted in practical tradition

UC Davis has a strong research base and is rooted in a practical tradition, Hargadon said.

"Because of the land-grant mission, UC Davis has a strong history of working with industry, government and NGOs (nongovernmental organizations)," he said. For example, collaborations in agriculture have had a lasting impact at the state, national and global levels, and licensing of plant varieties has been a continuing source of income for the university.

But Bloch said the university as a whole has lagged in relationships with industry. "You are not where you should be compared to similar campuses," he said.

UC Davis does not file enough patents or spin off enough companies compared to its peers, Bloch said. There are few incentives for faculty or students to get involved with activities that could lead to start-up companies or to industry links. The Graduate School of Management runs programs in entrepreneurship for graduate students and postdocs, as well as hosting the annual Big Bang! business plan competition, but these are only a beginning, Bloch said.

Technology transfer has not been perceived as a consistent high-level priority at UC Davis, Hargadon said, and the administrative support has been reactive and risk-averse rather than strategic.

More than counting patents

Transferring knowledge from the university to the wider world is about far more than counting patents, Hargadon said. It must also include:

• Training students who go to work for the public or private sector.

• Publishing academic papers.

• Interacting with industry researchers at professional meetings.

• Welcoming corporate-sponsored research projects on campus, and faculty consultation with private companies or government agencies.

• Encouraging entrepreneurial activities of faculty and students, regardless of whether they use intellectual property from the university.

These activities need to be encouraged, promoted and better rewarded, the committee recommended.

At the same time, the office managing technology transfer issues needs to convince faculty that the office can help them be more effective as researchers by quickly resolving intellectual property issues and agreements, by supporting new research funding opportunities and by assisting them in the broader dissemination of their work.

"There need to be clear recommendations from the chancellor on what this new office does and why, and a new organizational structure to support it," Hargadon said.

On the Web

Report from the chancellor's Blue-Ribbon Committee on Technology Transfer and Commercialization

Report from the Washington Advisory Group