Every other week, biochemist Michelle Arkin sets up a videoconference before her lab鈥檚 group meeting. And when the lab meeting starts, she doesn鈥檛 only welcome her fellow scientists at the University of California, San Francisco. She also greets their remote collaborators: scientists from Pfizer or Janssen Research & Development, depending on the day. As the group reviews the latest data, everyone helps shape the project鈥檚 direction and suggests ways to improve the experiments.
鈥淚n my experience, scientists from industry and academia are most often on the same page,鈥� says Arkin. 鈥淭hey have the same spirit and the same goals to advance the research.鈥� Arkin and her colleagues at UCSF鈥檚 Small Molecule Discovery Center have made it a goal to collaborate with industry, as well as pursue independent research, since the center鈥檚 inception seven years ago. These collaborations 鈥� characterised by constant phone calls, FedEx shipments of reagents between the team members and shared group meetings 鈥� help keep their science focused on results.
Arkin鈥檚 set-up is by no means an anomaly in university labs today. As competition for federal research funding heats up and companies pare down their research and development budgets, there鈥檚 a shift happening in science. Funding rates at both the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation are at the lowest in a decade, with less than a quarter of proposals receiving money. And so, more than at any other time in history, scientists are embracing the chance to work with industry.
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鈥淭here鈥檚 been this generational change,鈥� says Anthony Boccanfuso, executive director of the US National Academies鈥� University-Industry Demonstration Partnership, which exists to promote such collaborations. 鈥淭hirty years ago, consulting for industry was seen to be not as pure as federal funding.鈥� Now, he says, more scientists feel that working with industry will not only help their research make a more immediate difference to the public, it will also help keep them in the black.
Thinking differently
It鈥檚 not just the scientists鈥� attitudes that are changing. The entire nature of academia-industry partnerships is different to what it was a few decades ago. Today鈥檚 collaborations steer away from one-off grants and the straightforward exchange of money for research. Instead, long-term partnerships and multi-player ventures, in which all sides help direct the science, are the order of the day.
鈥淚t鈥檚 much more interactive now,鈥� says Andrew Watson, interim director for technology transfer at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. 鈥淩esearchers are talking weekly, sometimes even daily, with their industry partners about what鈥檚 going on with the science and the project.鈥� This means that the company has more control over the day-to-day science, but also that the research is more likely to contribute to a successful drug, device or product. If the research hits a dead end, the project can be cut short, or its course can be changed quickly.
Setting up these collaborations is rarely a matter of waiting for the company to call because they鈥檝e seen your latest brilliant, and totally relevant, journal paper. Things sometimes need a little lubrication, which often comes from your university. Many will mediate communication between a researcher and a company, but the most forward-thinking take a more active role. It鈥檚 not uncommon for a university, through its technology transfer or corporate liaison office, to assemble groups of researchers working on similar projects and advertise them to companies as a package deal. Some will even offer funds to help launch industry collaborations.
鈥淲hen I approach a company today, we鈥檙e talking about the possibility of bringing to the table its money, but also money from the university and from government agencies,鈥� says Wayne Johnson, assistant vice president for corporate relations at Caltech. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a larger idea than a one-to-one relationship.鈥�
Johnson has worked on the industry side of science for most of his career 鈥� at Raytheon, Microsoft and HP 鈥� and is now helping Caltech put together project proposals that will appeal to industry. A single proposal, he says, can take months to coordinate and is far beyond the reach of most scientists to assemble on their own. 鈥淵ou need to have the ability to understand the innovation ecosystem,鈥� he says. 鈥淲ho are all the players? What are the problems and issues you鈥檙e trying to deal with? What other universities are working in this arena that we could team up with?鈥�
And for scientists coming out of industry, it鈥檚 not just in advisor-level positions where they can help universities. At MD Anderson Cancer Center鈥檚 new Institute for Applied Cancer Science in Houston, the focus is on accelerating the development of therapeutics for cancer. That means industry collaborations, but also performing some of the jobs that industry used to do, such as chemistry and compound development, under the auspices of the institute.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 helping academia do this is the deconsolidation going on in industry,鈥� says Giulio Draetta, the institute鈥檚 director. As industry cuts R&D jobs, academic institutions can hire industry chemists, for example, to work for them. 鈥淭his helps to blend the cultures,鈥� he adds.
Moving into collaboration
So what steps should academic scientists take if they want to get involved in industry collaboration? First, learn about the industry or company you want to work with and how your skills can contribute. Remember, collaborators will rarely come to you. Second, see whether industry collaboration in general 鈥� or with a specific partner 鈥� is right for you. Try to get access to small packages of funding that let you try out a partnership. Third, be sure to involve the technology transfer or corporate liaison departments at your university. 鈥淒on鈥檛 sign anything until you involve the appropriate office at your university,鈥� says Watson.
Perhaps most importantly, you need to get used to a different way of thinking. 鈥淭he biggest difference that researchers might experience in their daily work with industry collaborations is that projects must have a beginning, a middle and an end, as well as a reporting schedule and a budget,鈥� says Tom Brzustowski, who is professor of the commercialisation of innovations at the University of Ottawa. 鈥淭here are things that can be quite foreign when you are doing basic research.鈥�
It鈥檚 also about networking 鈥� another thing that some scientists shy away from. 鈥淚ndustry collaborations are all about who you know,鈥� says Watson. At scientific meetings, you should have a stack of business cards ready to give to industry representatives.
Once you鈥檝e made contact with a company you鈥檙e interested in working with, follow up after the meeting with emails and phone calls. As Watson says, 鈥淜eep your name in front of them so that when they have an opportunity to collaborate, you鈥檙e the first person they think of.鈥�
Getting in early
It may be tough for scientists in the early stages of their careers, especially students, to find a company to collaborate with 鈥� but the long-term payoff can be huge.
鈥淥nce there is one good collaboration, it often leads to future interactions,鈥� says Andrew Watson of Oregon Health and Science University. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a waterfall of opportunities for collaboration.鈥�
Cooperative education programmes are sometimes available to students interested in combining their degrees with industry experience. Tom Brzustowski of the University of Ottawa recommends taking advantage of them. 鈥淪eeing the culture from the inside is helpful,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ecause the industrial culture is very different from the academic culture.鈥�
Another way in is to work with a mentor who already has a successful industry partnership. This lets students make industry connections without having to be responsible for the project.
Lastly, many companies still fund grant programmes for graduate students. Such grants can be a way to meet contacts within a company and get on their radar. Depending on the terms of the grant, however, they may not expose a student to the culture of industry as much as signing up to a co-op programme or getting involved in an existing collaboration would.