University-Industry Collaboration

Universities and industry have long worked together to develop innovations that are commercially viable. Such collaborations are essential to advancing innovations that produce social, economic, and often life-saving benefits. The Kauffman Foundation funds University-Industry Collaboration initiatives that help overcome obstacles to partnerships and generate productive solutions that enable the nation’s leading academic institutions and corporations to work together to address for some of the world’s greatest challenges.

Initiatives

  • Richard NewtonNamed in honor of Richard Newton, a visionary technology industry leader and late dean of the University of California-Berkeley College of Engineering, the A. Richard Newton Distinguished Innovator Lecture Series incorporates Newton's passion for the interplay between science and technology, business, and the economic and societal challenges facing young entrepreneurs.

  • With the aim of cultivating entrepreneurs from among the postdoctoral community, the Kauffman Foundation’s Entrepreneur Postdoctoral Fellows program educates and trains scientist-founders who will create the high-growth technology companies of tomorrow.

  • Getting new treatments and cures to patients more quickly is the goal of a unique life science proof-of-concept model that draws support from higher education, philanthropy and industry experts to move medical innovations from the lab to the market.

  • The Kansas City Life Sciences Fund, which received an initial contribution of $1.5 million from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, will enable donors across the region to help Kansas City recruit top medical research talent focusing especially on cures for cancer and diabetes.

  • Science Commons, an organization that designs strategies and tools for faster, more efficient Web-enabled scientific research, identifies unnecessary barriers to research, crafts policy guidelines and legal agreements to lower those barriers, and develops technology to make research data and materials easier to find and use.

  • /uploadedImages/ibridge(1).gifThis Kauffman Innovation Network, Inc. site provides access to university research and innovations to industry representatives, entrepreneurs, and other universities' researchers.

  • Founded in 2002, the MIT Venture Mentor program supports innovation and entrepreneurial activity throughout the MIT community by utilizing mentors to educate early-stage innovators.

  • Connecting universities and industry to bring innovations to market Kauffman Foundation funded research indicates the importance of university industry collaborations as a driver of innovation.

  • Women Innovators
    View video.   

    The Kauffman Foundation is working to unleash the latent scientific wealth of female scientists, ensuring that they have the support networks and financial means to start businesses and advance their innovations.

Highlights

  • A Kauffman Foundation study demonstrates the critical role universities play not only in fostering innovation and entrepreneurial growth, but in stimulating the much-needed recovery in regional and global economies.

Featured Resources

  • The Engineering Advisory Committee Subcommittee on Industry-University Partnerships issued a report, Encouraging Industry-University Partnerships, that recommends strategies to strengthen National Science Foundation efforts to encourage industrial partnerships that advance research and promote technology innovation.

  • /uploadedImages/ibridge(1).gifThis Kauffman Innovation Network, Inc. site provides access to university research and innovations to industry representatives, entrepreneurs, and other universities' researchers.

  • This analysis provides valuable insights into how proof of concept centers can facilitate the transfer of university innovations into commercial applications.