The competition for industry research funding - Vol. 51, no. 2, 2009

Oct 15, 2026

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Research funding constraints and the push for stronger university–industry engagement require universities to compete for industrial research dollars and build a customer service culture. Prior work highlights industry–university linkages, yet service-quality evaluation of university research or technology transfer for industry clients remains limited. The paper proposes a modified SERVQUAL-based approach and uses survey outcomes to identify actionable opportunities to improve service delivery practices for commercial research clients.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Commercial research and its value

Benefits for industry and universities

Incentives and funding mechanisms

Institutional Grants Scheme (IGS)

Competition for contract research income

Market-driven service enterprise approach

A U S T R A L I A N U N I V E R S I T I E S ’ R E V I E W The competition for industry research funding How satisfied are university commercial research clients? Troy Coyle University of Wollongong Constrained public funding for universities and the emphasis placed on university-industry interactions mean that universities are increasingly required to compete for industrial funds for research. This in turn means that universities need to develop a customer service culture in order to be competitive and attractive to industry. Many studies examine industry-university relationships, their importance and ways to improve interactions but publications examining customer service quality in the context of the provision of university research services or technology transfer services to industry are lacking. This article recommends a modified SERVQUAL (service quality survey instrument) approach and the survey results identify several opportunities for improved service delivery practice. Introduction There is a growing world-wide trend towards greater collaboration between academia and industry, an activity encouraged by governments as a means of enhancing competitiveness and innovation (Barnes, Pashby & Gibbons, 2002; Berman, 2008; Siegel, Waldman, Atwater & Link, 2003) . For example, inter-institutional scientific collaborations in biotechnology are known to be the vehicle that drives industry forward (Oliver, 2004; Bagchi-Sen, Hall & Petryshyn, 2001) and innovation rates are higher amongst firms that exploit university resources (MacPherson, 2002) . In addition, open innovation (where organisations exchange, collectively develop or trade innovation) is becomingly increasingly important (Cutler 2008) within the Australian innovation system, as it is in other countries (e.g. Chesbrough, 2006; Laursen & Slater, 2006) . Further, the 2009-10 Commonwealth Budget announced the establishment of the Joint Research Engagement Programme.Although the details were not announced, vol. 51, no. 2, 2009 it seems that an increasing emphasis will be placedon funding from non-traditional funding routes outside of the nationally competitive grants scheme.This will create an environment where universities will be encouraged to focus on enhancing contract research income.Through the programme, the Government will redirect $1.2 billion over four years (including $158.8 million in 2009 10, $323.9 million in 2010–11, $330.0 million in 2011–12 and $337.6 million in 2012–13) from the Institutional Grants Scheme (IGS) . The Joint Research Engagement Program will use a revised allocation formula which removes competitive grant income as a driver of funding. The Government states that this change is intended to give greater emphasis to end user research by encouraging and supporting collaborative research activities between universities, industry and end users. For the purposes of this article, ‘commercial research’ is the overarching term used for both contract research and consultancy projects where a third party is paying the university to undertake a certain The competition for industry research funding, Troy Coyle 79 A U S T R A L I A N U N I V E R S I T I E S ’ R E V I E W project and expects certain ‘deliverables’ in return. From industry’s perspective, commercial research offers: access to expertise and equipment not readily available elsewhere; access to leading edge technologies and world-class experts; development of stronger relationships with universities (and future graduates); and an expansion of their own research capabilities via the development of a university/industry research team. Commercial research activities help universities: to establish and strengthen relationships with industry; to exchange technologies with the broader research community; to ensure staff maintain ‘real world’ skills; to offset maintenance costs of large items of equipment; and to generate research income. Other than the benefits listed abov

FAQs

Why are universities increasingly required to compete for industrial research funds?

Constrained public funding and increased emphasis on university–industry interactions mean universities must seek industrial funding to remain competitive and attractive.

What gap in the literature motivates the study?

Many studies examine industry–university relationships, but publications assessing customer service quality in the delivery of university research or technology transfer services to industry are lacking.

How does the article propose to assess service quality for university research services?

It recommends a modified SERVQUAL service-quality survey approach, using survey results to pinpoint opportunities for improved service delivery practice.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Blitz