Download pdf - 1 - Choosing your research ideas · uides First check which of your research ideas are the to collaborative research with industry ... Choosing your research ideas Are my research

Quick Start Guides

to collaborative research with

industry1 Choosing research ideas

2 Forming a robust research proposition

3 Building buy-in and refining your proposition

4 Working with an industrial partner

5 Developing a research consortium

6 Managing a research consortium

7 Embedding research results in industry

8 Sharing research with a wider audience

These one-page guides are particularly aimed at early-career researchers. However, they should prove useful to all those interested in developing successful collaborations with industrial partners.

They are produced as part of the Department of Engineering’s strategic research theme: Inspiring research through industrial collaboration. Developed with support from HEIF (Higher Education Innovation Funding)

Department of Engineering

www.engineerimpact.info

1 - Choosing your research ideas

Are my research ideas robust?First check which of your research ideas are the most robust. Ask yourself:• How clear is my thinking? What exactly am I

trying to do?• Have I identified an individual research idea, or

an area that needs breaking down into separate ideas?

• What’s novel about this idea? Has something similar been attempted before? How would my approach move beyond current practice?

• What makes me think this approach will be successful?

To help you clarify your thinking write your ideas down and maybe discuss them with a colleague. You may decide to reject some ideas at this stage.

What criteria should I use for assessing my research ideas?Examine each idea that remains in terms of:• Its strategic fit with your work and that of your

research group• The potential impact of the research• How industrial partners and funding bodies

might value the idea

Considering all three of these criteria is crucial both in order to gain funding and for the future development of your research group and your career. We consider each in turn below.

Is my idea a good strategic fit?Ask yourself:• How does this idea fit with my previous work

and capabilities? Am I the right person to do it?• What would this research project look like in

practice? Do I want to do it?• How would it help my career? • Who might I work with (in and/or outside my

department)? • Is it an idea that might appeal to or be suitable

for a colleague or student?• What might such a project lead on to? To what

extent could this be a foundation for a series of further projects?

• How would it help develop my research group?

What is the possible impact of this research?What difference will this idea make if the research is successful? What are the benefits to potential stakeholders? For example: • What might other academics do differently as a

result of any published outcomes? • How might this research build or strengthen

relationships with industrial partners?• Who else could benefit from the capabilities

developed by this project? How?

Will it appeal to funding bodies and potential industrial partners?Ideas, even very good ones with clear benefits, will not get funded unless they also fit a funder’s strategy. Do your homework and ask yourself: how well does this idea fit possible funders’ priorities? How will it be viewed by companies I might want to work with?

What else do I need to find out before choosing?If publishing your research is a key output, scope the opportunities for publication. Which journals and other dissemination routes might you target? What are their interests and criteria?

If the idea is suitable for industrial applications, try to identify potential industrial partners including those new to you and your research group. Talk to academics outside your group to see if they have contacts who may be interested.

What if I still can’t decide?Think about each idea in relation to the issues raised in Quick Start Guide: Forming a robust proposition. Once you start thinking about making a compelling case for funding, you may find one idea emerges as the obvious choice!

Further helpSee our website for further help and information.

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What do we mean by a robust proposition?A robust proposition expresses a research idea that is clearly articulated and adds value. A potential funder/partner looking at your proposition needs to:• Quickly grasp what it is you want to do• See it as useful research, with outcomes that

people beyond academia will value

How do I achieve robustness?The key requirement is clear thinking. Pinpoint what you’re trying to achieve, and why, using the Heilmeier Catechism, a proven framework.

Focus on the first five of Heilmeier’s questions and examine:• Your precise objectives – write them down

(without jargon!)• How your research is going to be useful (What

are the limits of current practice? What’s new in your approach and why do you think it will be successful?)

• How your research will add value (Who cares about the issue? If you’re successful, what difference will it make?)

Who benefits?Consider existing industrial partners and their networks – their collaborators, customers and suppliers.

Then see if you can identify further beneficiaries among other potential partners in the sector and their networks.

Your beneficiaries could also be:• Policy-setting bodies such as government

departments• Executive agencies such as the emergency

services• NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and

charities• Intermediary organisations such as knowledge

transfer bodies and consultants• Industrial or public sector research organisations• International as well as national, regional and

local organisations• Fellow academics (who should not, however, be

the only beneficiaries).

In what ways will they benefit?What value could industry and others gain from the proposed research if it is successful? For example, will it make a difference to: • Productivity, efficiency and cost control,

competitiveness? • Sustainability or reducing the impact on

resources?• Health or physical well-being?• Social cohesion, cultural enrichment, quality of

life?

How do I communicate the benefits of my work?Consider how you might phase your work in order to provide your partners with early research insights, including demonstrations to show future potential. How could you help beneficiaries put the results into practice? Explain how soon others would be able to get value from your ideas – and how. 1George Heilmeier, b.1936, a former Director of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, spent his career at the interface between academia and industry.

Heilmeier Catechism1 1. What are you trying to do? Articulate your

objectives using absolutely no jargon.2. How is it done today, and what are the limits

of current practice?3. What’s new in your approach and why do you

think it will be successful?4. Who cares?5. If you’re successful, what difference will it

make?6. What are the risks and payoffs?7. How much will it cost?8. How long will it take?9. What are the mid-term and final ‘exams’ to

check for success?

2 - Forming a robust research proposition

Further helpSee Quick Start Guide: Building buy-in and refining your proposition. See our website for further help including a ‘pyramid principle example’, which demonstrates a powerful technique for expressing ideas cogently in a research proposal.

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3 - Building buy-in and refining your proposition

Further helpTry pitching your proposal to academic colleagues. Having your ideas challenged will help you find ways to improve them. Get feedback too from your partners. Grant-awarding bodies often welcome being asked for general advice, particularly if the proposed project is large or complex. See our website for further help and information.

Why build buy-in?Buy-in from beneficiaries of your research will help to ensure they support your bid for funding and also means your project will provide more value. See Quick Start Guide: Forming a robust research proposition for potential beneficiaries – from industrial partners to government agencies – and ways in which they might benefit. You should allow plenty of time to build a compelling proposition.

What’s the first step?In order to get beneficiaries interested in your research, you need to identify the particular ways in which your project will deliver value. Consider the benefits your research might produce and then identify ways these could be achieved. These might include:• Product technologies • Service technologies• Process technologies • Paradigms and models• Insights or evidence for policy development• Developing skilled people

How should I prepare my approach?Consider how beneficiaries might use the results of your research? What are the potential vehicles for delivering the value you are offering. These could include:• Tools and methods • Standards or benchmarks • Data sets/a knowledge base to underpin future

R&D • IP and/or physical prototypes

Plan how you will communicate with your chosen audience. Find out how they keep up to date with new knowledge in their fields and how they look for information and experts to help them overcome problems. Once you’ve got them involved, plan how you’ll keep them interested, perhaps via workshops, visits and secondments. See Quick Start Guide: Working with an industrial partner for more advice – also relevant to other kinds of beneficiaries.

What can beneficiaries add to my proposition?Talking through your ideas with potential beneficiaries can identify needs you weren’t aware of and ways your research could address these. Discuss

how the project could produce value for them. You may find that they point you in the direction of other potential beneficiaries.

Your project will be more attractive to your target audience if they can see it offers short-term as well as long-term value. Be alert to ways to refine your project plan to get some ‘quick wins’.

In practical terms, beneficiaries can add a letter of support to any bid for external funding. They may also lobby for help inside their organisation.

How do I strengthen my case for funding?If you are seeking industrial funding, the degree of perceived risk will have a major bearing on what partners will contribute. Near-market research has the greatest chance of industrial backing.

If your project needs funding from the public purse or charities to go ahead, don’t simply show how your proposition meets their guidelines. Try to identify the added value that their funding would create (the ‘additionality argument’). You could, for example, argue that a grant would:• Enable knowledge to be disseminated that would

not otherwise be gained or shared (knowledge spillover)

• Support the development and take up of new ideas, technologies and practices (knowledge transfer)

• Compensate for insufficient market investment in innovation, often because of perceived risk or uncertainty (market failure)

• Make a major difference to what either university or industrial partners could acheive on their own (criticality of funding)

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4 - Working with an industrial partner

Further helpQuick Start Guides: Managing a research consortium and Embedding research results in industry include further tips for working successfully with industrial partners. See our website for further help and information.

What should I look for in an industrial partner?Choose your industrial partner(s) carefully. Look for a partner who has:• A clear grasp of why your work could be useful

to them• A team of people able to absorb and use the

research results• Experience of working with academia, or a

willingness to engage and learn

If possible, find a partner interested in a long-term relationship – so the effort you put into understanding each other has time to pay off. Ideally, the company will also have a champion for the research at project level together with a committed sponsor in senior management.

What interests industrial partners?Occasionally potential partners have a technology strategy that clearly identifies an interest in your research area. It is much more likely, however, that companies will simply see a promising link between your research and a current business issue. Most will focus on technology application rather than building insight and capabilities. You may therefore need to discuss how your research could help them make better decisions, or develop new capabilities and new services as well as provide new technology.

What makes a successful partnership?An engaged industrial partner’s project team should be able to help you: • Articulate the impact of the research and its

implications• Keep the project on track – for them and for you• Ensure the value of the research is understood

inside the organisation• Define and undertake the tasks necessary to

extract benefit from the work• Highlight other interesting research topics and

opportunities

To achieve such outcomes you need to develop a strong working relationship. Both sides of the partnership need to be willing to work at building and maintaining good communication as well as committed to mobilising the necessary resources for project delivery. The partnership also needs to be able to accommodate cultural differences between the two organisations.

How do I build a strong working relationship?Invest time to build mutual understanding. You may have very different motivations and drivers – for example, academia’s quest for discovery versus industry’s desire to solve problems and improve financial performance. If your partner is new to working with academia, help them to understand:• The different timescales and constraints of

academia• The importance of keeping long-term research

separate from time-critical projects• How PhDs differ from RAs• How to navigate university finance systems • Ways to manage confidentiality while still

allowing research to be published

Establish clear timeframes, agreeing how quickly partners can expect a response from each other. Use face-to-face meetings to help build commitment, using alternatives such as teleconferencing once relationships are well established. Set achievable short-term goals to allow both parties to ‘test the water’ and build confidence in the partnership.

How do I maintain the relationship?Active involvement of partner organisations throughout the project is key: • Spend time in each other’s workplace to help

build understanding and awareness• Use project reviews and other meetings to take

stock of the relationship and see how you can help each other

• Increase the number of people and the disciplines involved on both sides, reducing the collaboration’s vulnerability when people change jobs and increasing the potential for multidisciplinary serendipity

• Be constantly on the lookout for ways to extend and refresh communication and provide value, using demonstrators and prototypes, focus groups, joint presentations and project reviews

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5 - Developing a research consortium

Further helpSources of agreement templates can be found on our website. Before establishing a consortium, talk to colleagues who have managed successful collaborations (see website for suggested names). You could also talk to your Head of Department and others likely to have experience in this area.

What is a consortium?A consortium consists of a group of partners collaborating on a project, typically sharing the risks and benefits involved under a formal agreement. While this guide focuses on consortia of academic and industrial partners, much of it is also relevant to consortia involving partners from other sectors.

Why might I want to develop a consortium?Developing a consortium can help to fill gaps in skills or expertise. It can also help to provide funding and other resources to help manage research or commercialisation risks. Getting partners together early can make commercial uptake at the end of the project more likely − because the consortium will have already formed into a team.

What are the disadvantages of developing a consortium?Working with more than one partner increases complexity, makes project management more challenging and can create conflicts of interest. The more partners involved, the slower decision-making is likely to be and the greater the chance of disruption through, for example, changes of staff, strategy or business ownership.

Where do I start?Clarify your own goals. For example, do you want partners to add value to early-stage research? Or do you want to move a technology on towards commercialisation? Or is knowledge exchange your main goal? Then plan realistic timescales – developing a consortium successfully takes time.

How do I decide what kinds of companies to bring together?This will depend on your goals. If you want to:• Develop a new core technology – then perhaps

seek partners who share your technology interests, but in different areas of application

• Communicate knowledge – you could select partners who don’t compete but who have the same kinds of customers or clients

• Bring a technology to market – different partners for successive stages of development and commercialisation may be the best option

How do I identify prospective partners?When considering potential partners, ask yourself what benefits your project could offer. Will they be attracted by the chance to: • Participate in the early stages of a new or

disruptive technology? • Be involved in pre-competitive work to gain

competitive advantage later? • Undertake more risky projects and so share risk? • Access skills and resources that they don’t have

themselves? • Engage with individuals and organisations that

are, or may become, significant in their sector or market?

• Gain insights into best practice through knowledge exchange?

What should be included in the consortium agreement?Any collaboration agreement should cover: • Partners’ commitments in terms of finance

and resources, and any other high-level commitments

• Consortium governance and project management, including how to manage changes in consortium membership

• The role of a joint industrial/academic advisory group

• Ownership and use of intellectual property • Confidentiality and non-disclosure • Publications and public relations strategy • Procedures for resolving disputes

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6 - Managing a research consortium

Further helpQuick Start Guides: Embedding research results in industry and Sharing research with a wider audience discuss how to lay the foundations for knowledge transfer and exchange well before the end of the project. See our website for further help and information, including approaches to project planning, and tools for managing large projects.

Who should ‘drive’ the consortium?An effective research consortium needs a strong project manager reporting to a proactive steering group, working together to ensure:• The partners collaborate effectively to achieve

consortium goals • The research is disseminated and transferred

effectively to the partners

What is needed in a project manager?The project manager should have sufficient time and experience for the role – particularly for the challenge of getting (often senior) people with different objectives and heavy commitments to work together effectively. If the project manager is less experienced then provide support and mentoring from a senior academic.

What is the steering group’s role?The group should keep a close eye on overall direction: steering research so that it produces the greatest value; trading off long and short-term gains; and balancing members’ different interests (all the while dealing with such issues as intellectual property and changes to consortium membership).

How should the project be set up for success?Get the partners together to (a) develop the vision for the project, (b) create detailed objectives, (c) translate these into a project plan. Refine the vision outlined in the consortium agreement. This creates a shared picture to drive the direction of the research and develop meaning for each intermediate step. Do this with all partners present to achieve shared commitment and understanding of each other’s motivations.

Sound project management techniques and accountability mechanisms should underpin the project – sources of advice can be found under Further help below.

How do we keep the project focussed?Create decision points and focus on moving towards them. Constantly look for research insights that can be communicated to partners so they gain benefit quickly. Use milestone meetings to:• Make project decisions • Decide how best to use the latest outputs• Identify future priorities

Use face-to-face meetings to maintain partner commitment. Meetings – from formal project reviews to informal events to celebrate milestones reached – enable you to take stock of partner relationships and identify where you need to strengthen involvement.

Schedule meetings regularly enough to bring on board those new to the project, as people move jobs and roles change. Try to rotate meetings around different partners’ sites. See Quick Start Guide: Working with an industrial partner for more tips on building and maintaining partner motivation.

How does the research get transferred to partners?Target your communications carefully. The core team of partner project managers, researchers, and steering group members may or may not communicate the project effectively in their organisations, so ask them how you can help.

Focus on choosing the right individuals to take action at the right points in the project. These may be people from a wider group developed during the project – such as members of a company’s senior technical staff, valued for their ability to assess technical progress and business need.

Some questions you could ask yourself and your partners include:• Is the mix of industry and academia in the team

at the right level? • Is there appropriate application expertise at

different stages of the project? • Who would be valuable in the extended team?

Other staff employed by industrial partners? Potential users?

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7 - Embedding research results in industry

Further helpQuick Start Guide: Sharing research with a wider audience looks at disseminating results beyond industrial partners. See our website for further help and information.

Why do I need to do this? Despite your best efforts, industrial partners won’t necessarily use your project outcomes. Research suggests that, even in successful collaborations, many partners fail to use the research results. Often those who could gain most from the results haven’t been involved in the project. Business units, for instance, might not relate to a project led by the corporate centre or can’t immediately see how they might benefit. In other cases senior managers don’t see the project as strategically important.

In what ways could partners benefit? Partners are more likely to use your research if it offers them clear benefits. This could include improving understanding of a technology – perhaps by building capabilities through the use of new tools and methods. Or the research could provide new IP – helping partners to develop new products and processes.

What influences successful transfer of research1?Research results are far more likely to be used if the company:• Defines the project’s strategic context • Appoints a project manager with a good

network inside the company • Develops a shared vision of the potential

research benefits • Values a long-term relationship with the

university• Has good communication channels with the

academic team• Fosters broad awareness of the project in the

company• Supports the project and its follow up, until the

work can be exploited.

To help make sure your research is disseminated and used, ask yourself:• Who might use my research and how?• Is my corporate partner managing the research

project effectively? • Is there anyone else I should try to influence? • Do I need to establish multiple channels for

dissemination?• Do I need to customise the research results for

different users (in the design of applications, tools and so on)?

Where do I start?Use your contacts to find out how the company operates and how your project fits in. Try to understand the company’s information flows to: • Identify its research and technology priorities

(which may vary in different parts of the business)

• Help you disseminate information to all those who may be interested in the results

The better you understand partner priorities the more effectively you can tailor the presentation of your research results.

How do I connect with the right people?In many cases it will be important to communicate with both the strategic and ‘coal face’ parts of the business. Ask the company’s project manager to put you in touch with intended users well before the end of the project.

Building networks in a large company takes time and effort. Relationships are built on familiarity and trust. Combine top-down, formal methods, such as steering committee meetings, with informal approaches – being ‘visible’ and working alongside your partner. Try also to talk to people in broad-based groups – at corporate events, or at seminars or demonstrations arranged by you.

What are the best ways to influence them? The best mechanism for knowledge transfer is by people spending time in a partner’s workplace – via secondments, people exchanges, visits or joint teams. This will maximise the commitment to using the results. Workshops and seminars are more persuasive than written information.

High quality documentation (such as manuals) should support face-to-face methods, to ensure continuity in case key people leave.1Pertuzé, J.A.; Calder, E.S.; Grietzer, E. M.; & Lucas, W.A ‘Best Practices for Industry-University Collaboration’, MIT Sloan Management Review, Summer 2010.

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8 - Sharing research with a wider audience

Further helpSee our website for more help with responding to the requirements of different audiences.

Who might be interested in your research?Think about who might be interested in your work and why. In addition to your collaborators and funders, other researchers, commercial organisations or policymakers may wish to use your results – perhaps to build on them, perhaps to exploit them and perhaps to build a case to support further research. Think also about the ‘legacy audiences’ who will pick up your results in future.

What is the best way to share results?Tailor your dissemination methods to suit different audiences. Think about the aspects of your work that will be important to them. Will they value your data, insights, tools and methods, or technology? How can you make it easy for them to access your work? Where do they go for information? What do they read? Think particularly about the level of detail and the style of language appropriate to each audience. Beware academic jargon!

When should I engage with wider audiences?Prepare an overall communication plan at the start. This should specify audiences (the beneficiaries), the benefits offered (see Quick Start Guide: Forming a robust research proposition) and how you will deliver them (see Quick Start Guide: Building buy-in and refining your proposition). You must communicate those benefits to see them realised. Add detail as your project progresses, not forgetting the resources needed.

When you start to generate research results. Ask yourself: Am I making my results available through the right communication channels for my targeted audience? What am I doing to improve audience comprehension? What am I doing to make the results usable more quickly?

At final research stage. Ask yourself: Am I communicating the compelling significance and implications of my results? Who might take this forward? Can this work continue even if I move on? What material should be archived? Where, by whom and for how long?

After the project. What am I doing to keep my audiences up to date? Can we build follow-on, such as future projects? How and with whom?

How do I reach different audiences?Research audiences will be interested to see how your work could lead to further research, so remember to make available relevant material such as models, datasets and theoretical developments.

Some commercial audiences might want to use the actual results of the project, while others might wish to acquire the intellectual property in order to develop and commercialise the work: • For companies who could use the research

results as they stand, hold workshops and demonstrations. Maybe second students to work with them. Use feedback to guide research and future dissemination. Since companies are unlikely to read academic journals, use professional association and trade journals, newsletters and industry conferences.

• For the commercialisation route, seek specialist advice. You may need help in managing the intellectual property and patents equitably.

Policy-making audiences such as government departments like research results that give clear pointers for decision-making and policy development. Network at conferences and workshops to understand policy makers’ priorities, and to judge how and when to present your evidence. Written information (including grey literature such as white papers) has most effect when it is timely – so look for relevant consultations. Social media have increasing influence; well used, for example, by NGOs and other agencies.

Try to build a community of interest around your work (from current partners and perhaps future collaborators and users) using online and mobile communications. Social media provide tools to build interest around the work-in-progress and a dialogue for the future.

Use web tools for legacy audiences. For example, project repositories can create a corporate memory, which can be highly valued by industrial partners. Data sets may help academics. Consider holding annual post-project workshops to maintain contacts and possibly build new propositions.