WORKING WITH US
Ian Murphy, Head of Commercial Development at Edinburgh Research and Innovation, explains how the University can help businesses as they sail into uncharted waters
Surging forward
For more than 40 years, the University of Edinburgh has been engaging with business and industry, having established one of the first university industrial liaison offices in the UK in 1969. Today, the University’s technology transfer office, Edinburgh Research and Innovation (ERI), continues to work in this area, providing a point of contact for business and industry looking to develop a fruitful relationship with the University. All major universities have dedicated offices established to liaise with the business community. They may be called technology transfer, knowledge exchange or commercialisation offices or the office of sponsored programmes. These offices
exist to help bridge the cultural differences between business and academia. They are staffed by technology transfer professionals who have experience in both sectors, which gives them an understanding of where both sides are coming from. Some people might refer to that position as being caught between a rock and a hard place but, here at ERI, we see it as an opportunity to ensure strong and positive relationships are developed and maintained. Having built up extensive experience in technology transfer, ERI has developed its business services to ensure that we make it easier for business and industry to work with the University of Edinburgh. Throughout this magazine, we have
GET IN TOUCH To discuss how your
Ian Murphy Head of Commercial Development
ian.murphy@
ed.ac.uk
30
business can engage with the University of Edinburgh, please get in touch with…
highlighted some examples of how we have helped make a difference for companies in the past year. However, some of the key areas that we see as vital in making a difference for your organisation include:
ENSURING A WIN-WIN OUTCOME FOR EVERYONE
ERI is charged with negotiating deals on behalf of the University of Edinburgh. Like any company, our aspiration is to obtain optimum value for the University. However, we also seek an equitable solution for all parties. Evidence of the success of this approach is the 291 licence agreements we have concluded in the past five years. Dr Derek Shepherd, Chairman, NGenTec Ltd, said: “When I was first approached to assist in taking a new spin-out company from being wholly owned by the University into a separate legal entity, I had only ever worked with businesses, never with a university.
“The commercialisation process took time – partly because none of us were full time. In many areas, such as IP protection and grants, both areas that I had no experience in, the University were very much in control and were maximising value for the spin-out company.
“Looking back, without the early groundwork done by ERI and the positive response to issues and questions ranging from IP to secondments to grants to shareholdings and expectations, the company would never have succeeded in attracting investment.”
UNDERSTANDING THE CHALLENGES AHEAD
Spin-out companies have an enormous number of challenges in emerging from a university academic laboratory. The spin-out
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40