Research neutrality: perspectives from academia and industry

Neutrality is a guiding principle for universities entering into a research partnership with an industry collaborator. But that neutrality can quickly create tension around how to share research results and finding a balance between commercial and academic motivations. At the recent Times Higher Education Innovation and Impact Summit, reporter Ellie Bothwell spoke with academics and industry representatives to get the perspective from both sides of the public-private research dynamic.  

So Young Kim, head of the graduate school of science and technology policy at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) said that guidelines are essential to ensure industry doesn’t monopolise intellectual property create during a research project. 

Enterprise also has its own guidelines when working with universities, said Deborah Sherry, senior vice-president and chief commercial officer at GE Digital Europe, Russia and CIS. These include supporting the development of new talent and getting a return on research investment.