An interesting commentary in
Science by D. Malakoff describes the
many approaches that universities are taking to assure that their research
‘pays off’ in the commercial arena. However, as the article points out, for
every major success, such as NYU’s $650M from Remicade, there are many more
failures with less than 1% of academic intellectual property earning $1M. Many
technology transfer offices cost far more to run than any revenues they return
to the university. To this observer this intense pursuit of commercial and
entrepreneurial activity is another sign of the increasing corporatization of
American universities and a turning away from their traditional role as the
creators of new knowledge that broadly benefits society.
Many research-intensive
universities, especially public ones, are struggling to demonstrate their
economic relevance to their masters in state legislatures. However, trying to
do this on the basis of patents issued or royalties generated is likely to be a
losing proposition. Universities need to devise better appraisals of the positive
impact of their research on economic wellbeing and not have it defined in
narrow commercial terms.
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