Dissemination of research results from Lund University to industry and society

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1 Dissemination of research results from Lund University to industry and society Mirka Fahlander, Citation: AIP Conference Proceedings 1753, (2016); doi: / View online: View Table of Contents: Published by the American Institute of Physics

2 Dissemination of Research Results from Lund University to Industry and Society 1, a) Mirka Fahlander 1 Lund University Commissioned Education, Lund University, Box 117, SE Lund, Sweden a) Corresponding author: mirka.fahlander@education.lu.se Abstract. Sweden is top ranked as the third most innovative nation in the world according to Global Innovation Index The academic staff at Swedish universities has the right to their inventions (research-ownership of patent rights) as opposed to far more diffuse university-ownership. Since 1977 the Swedish Higher Education Act imposes Swedish universities a socalled Third task. In addition to education and research they shall collaborate with the society and to inform the society about their activities. How does the largest university in Scandinavia deal with dissemination of research results to industry and society? The presentation will touch upon technology transfer, professional education and regional development as well as commercialization of research results. INTRODUCTION Sweden always ranks high in international reports and the Global Innovation Index 2015 ranks Sweden as the third most innovative nation in the world after Switzerland and United Kingdom. Innovation is closely linked to research and development. Sweden is one of Europe s top two spenders in this area, investing 3.4% of its GDP on R&D during the last three years and ranks second after Finland with 3.5% to 3.8% among the European nations 1. Sweden differs from other European countries by retaining its professor s privilege. That means that the academic staff at Swedish universities has the right to their inventions (research-ownership of intellectual property, IP). Other European countries, following the example of USA, have switched to university-ownership of IP in order to raise the involvement of academia in technology development. However, the level of academic patenting in Sweden is very high by international standards and the research so far points that the ownership regime does not affect the level of patenting 2,3. The Swedish university system comprises 28 universities and university colleges. Ejermo (2013) shows that it is the four oldest and biggest universities, Karolinska Institutet, the Royal Institute of Technology, Uppsala University and Lund University that have more than 60% share of university patenting. Lund University had the highest number of patent applications per year of all universities in Sweden. Since 1977 the Swedish Higher Education Act imposes Swedish universities the Third task. In addition to education and research they shall collaborate with the society and to inform the society about their activities. The Third task was extended to also promote dissemination of research results for the benefit of the society in 2009 with an amendment to the Higher Education Act. The Swedish Innovation Agency, VINNOVA, has been commissioned by the Government to develop a model for assessing how well universities perform with respect to the Third task. This will have influence on the funding from the Government 5. The proposal will be submitted to the Government in Two departments at Lund University are responsible for dissemination of research results from university to industry and society; Lund University Innovation (LUI) and Lund University Commissioned Education (LUCE). LUCE works with competence development and technology transfer and LUI takes care of innovations and help researchers and students to commercialize their ideas through spin-off or patents and licensing. Both departments have about staff members and a home within the university s central administration. Latin American Symposium on Nuclear Physics and Applications AIP Conf. Proc. 1753, ; doi: / Published by AIP Publishing /$

3 COMMISSIONED EDUCATION This article focuses on commissioned education as an important channel for transfer of basic knowledge and latest research results to industry and society. Commissioned programmes provide a meeting platform for scientists and course participants for exchange of ideas and experiences and a link between basic and applied research. They are open for commissioned projects and external collaborations as they facilitate for the participants to identify researchers and research projects of interest. LUCE represents all faculties at Lund University. Its staff monitors the issues, problems and knowledge needs of society and industry and bring them back to expert scientists at the university. The identified market needs form the base for commissioned courses. LUCE makes research at Lund University visible to the outside world and markets it to organisations, both in Sweden and internationally. Through its network of companies, LUCE also provides feedback to the university about the needs from industry and society regarding undergraduate education and research. Not only is commissioned education profiling the university s research areas but it is also a revenue source for the university. Compared to Government funding the revenue per academic credit is on average three times higher. TABLE 1. The table below gives an overview of the outcome of the activities in LU Commissioned Education in figures 2014 Number of courses and programmes 160 Number of participants 3900 Participants non resident in Sweden 40% National/international customers 80/20 Turnover in million Euro 9 FROM WHERE DO THE PROJECTS COME? FOUR CASES Inquiry can come from companies, authorities and organisations, both in Sweden and from abroad. Parallel to this, scientists at Lund University or LUCE can initiate projects guided by the identified technological, regional or societal needs. Case 1: Profiling strong research areas Lund University has strong research and international reputation in several areas of science and technology, as for example in food and nanotechnology. The concentration of food and food packaging businesses is high in southern Sweden and Denmark. We know that interdisciplinary and cross-border collaboration at regional, national and global level can help find solutions to the major questions of today and tomorrow. LUCE and Lund University did therefore put forward an interdisciplinary course on nanotechnology in food processing, packaging and safety for industry to be better prepared to face the challenges. Other examples are courses in structural bioinformatics and protein modelling, developed with AstraZeneca for professionals in life science industry, and a tailored course in

4 business skills and entrepreneurship developed for the Swedish Association of Professional Scientists to boost their members carrier progress. Case 2: Response to the societal needs Sweden is divided in 21 counties, each of which has its own County Administrative Board and County Governor. The Board has an important role in environmental and climate issues; it defines goals and coordinates the efforts, grants permits and conducts supervision of activities that have impact on the environment. The Board of Scania County had identified five environmental challenges to be addressed during : sustainable transport, green building, water, eco-tourism and phenology. The Board approached Lund University to give a number of inspirational seminars related to several environmental challenges that the Board had identified. The aim with the seminars was to inspire the 150 staff members and to give them insight into the latest research in the field. Case 3: Regional development Two large accelerator facilities are currently being built in Lund; the synchrotron radiation source MAX IV and the European Spallation Source (ESS). Plans to build two world-class particle accelerators in southern Sweden have created business opportunities in Sweden, Denmark and Norway to provide accelerator technology equipment. However, the accelerator business area is new to the region and in 2010 there were hardly any companies in the region that could build an accelerator module or equipment of this type. Instead a coordination of companies with different types of expertise was needed combined with skills development. CATE, Cluster for Accelerator Technology, was a regional project between several Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian universities, regions, business organizations, and ESS, which are placed in the Oresund - Kattegat - Skagerrak region. In the project, supported by the European Regional Development Fund Interreg IV, the universities offered existing businesses in the region to take advantage of tailor-made courses, study visits to research facilities in Europe, and learning-by-doing in a pilot project during The CATE project was based on the knowledge and experience of the research groups at the universities involved and CERN. The purpose of this type of technology transfer was to give companies better opportunities to get contracts for design, construction and maintenance of research facilities that require advanced equipment in accelerator technology and to utilize the potential of the major investments in ESS and MAX IV. CATE is strategically important for the region and has already helped to create corporate partnerships, cross-border collaborations and new business activities that would not have happened without CATE. Case 4: Continuing education for laid-off employees to assist in carrier change LUCE can also facilitate validation of skills and provide continuing education programmes for laid-off employees to assist a new carrier. In 2010 AstraZeneca decided to shutdown its R&D site in Lund and to lay-off 900 employees. Because AstraZeneca constituted a large and important skills resource for the life sciences in the region, working groups between Lund University, regional authorities, unions and local industry were quickly set up to draw up guidelines for a new life science park, the Ideon Medicon Village. It was expected that the globalization and severe restructuring in life science industry would make it difficult for the AstraZeneca s staff to find new jobs in the region. In order to retain the valuable R&D competence in the region a tailored skills development programme was considered to be an effective bridge to new jobs in other related industries. LUCE performed a labour market survey together with the regional Public Employment Agency and the major staffing and recruitment agencies. Parallel to that LUCE and Invest in Skåne also did competence mapping of AstraZeneca s staff and of their skills needs, which formed the base for an application to the European Globalization Fund for financing the skills development programme. With that money the Public Employment Agency commissioned Lund University to provide several academic courses and 1-2 years long academic programmes leading to pharmacists and science teachers qualifications. Today, the shutdown of AstraZeneca s R&D site turned out to be a boost for Lund and the whole Scania region; more than 1000 people have their work at Ideon Medicon Village and 90 new businesses have been formed

5 TABLE 2. The table below illustrates four different ways to work with commissioned education, both proactively and in response to societal needs. 1. Strong research areas at LU Nanotechnology Life science Innovation and entrepreneurship 3. Request from outside ICA, Sandvik, McDonalds The Administrative Board of Scania 2. Partner in the regional development CATE Cluster for Accelerator Technology 4. Company closures and dismissals AstraZeneca, Sony, ST Ericsson INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING Key trends in university innovation are today: use-inspired research, universities contribution to development of regional and national innovation ecosystems and active IP support. Universities need knowledge, understanding and tools to support this development. With the globalized world the universities also face a different reality today. Students can compare and apply to different universities in different countries. Universities compete and they need leadership for a university culture in change. They also need leadership and tools for collaborations and external relations with companies and society. LUCE provides several shorter and longer programmes in this area and this is a growing area of business for Lund University. Some most recent examples are the National Innovation System programme, commissioned in 2015 by the Ministry of Education and Technology in Indonesia. Through this 3-year programme Lund University is transferring the know-how of the Swedish innovation system to Indonesia. LUCE trains staffs at ministries, public organisations and universities in Indonesia the steps how to build their own innovation system on a national level. Another example is a two-week training programme in entrepreneurial skills for junior research staffs at Polish universities. Polish Ministry of Research and Education commissioned this programme and LUCE gave the programme ten times in In the programme the staffs of the Polish universities were taught how to create collaboration platforms and links to other actors, both inside and outside their own universities. The aim of this hands-on programme was threefold: first to let the participants practice interdisciplinary collaboration around an idea that could be commercialized. Secondly, to enhance collaboration between academia and industry and how to start and run industry collaborative projects. Thirdly, to teach how to commercialize and protect an idea and create a business. The Pavlodar State University in Kazakhstan commissioned another two-week programme on Education Management in The aim of this programme was to provide professionals in teaching and pedagogical development as well as university leadership with understanding, knowledge and tools for working with education management in a university culture of change. SUMMARY An entrepreneurial society like Sweden creates a need for knowledge of entrepreneurship and innovation management. It is therefore essential that students understand the conditions and the process for establishing new businesses as well as the development and growth of established businesses. Lund University is providing extensive education in entrepreneurship and innovation on a bachelor level, two master programmes, a number of courses for both students and research staff, as well as commissioned education. The support of entrepreneurial education is a vital part of the Third task of Swedish universities. For an entrepreneurial university such as Lund University this has been an important strategy and a long-term investment. It has been a continuous effort in the development of an effective support system for innovation and entrepreneurship, including the development of an infrastructure for commercialization of applied research

6 REFERENCES 1. Statistics Sweden, 2. Olof Ejermo, A Knowledge Production Function for Patents in Swedish Academia, The Triple Helix Conference, London, England, July 8-10, Mark. O. Sellenthin, Beyond the Ivory Tower A Comparison of Patent Right Regimes in Sweden and Germany, Ph.D. thesis, Linköping University (2006) 4. Mats Benner and Sverker Sörlin, Universiteten tydliga med att de vill samverka, IVA Aktuellt Nr 4, (2015), pp VINNOVA home page: