How to develop industry collaborations

If you want to strengthen your ties to industry, you have a lot of options and different paths to approach.

In today’s post, I hope to give you an overview of how you can set up industry collaborations through teaching, service, and research.

As part of your teaching activities, you can consider the following:

Internship Programs: Offer internships to students in industry settings, providing practical experience and fostering industry connections.
Guest Lectures and Workshops: Invite industry experts to give lectures or workshops, sharing real-world insights with students.
Industry-Sponsored Scholarships: Develop scholarships funded by industry partners for research in fields of mutual interest.
Curriculum Development: Collaborate on creating curricula that incorporate industry-relevant skills and knowledge.
Entrepreneurship Programs: Support initiatives that encourage students and researchers to develop startups, possibly with industry mentorship.
Professional Development Courses: Offer specialized courses for industry professionals, taught by academic experts.
Real-World Case Studies: Use industry challenges as case studies in academic courses, providing students with practical learning opportunities.

As part of your service activities, you can consider the following:

Technology Transfer Initiatives: Facilitate the transfer of technology developed in academia to industry applications.
Advisory Roles: Academics can take on advisory roles in companies, providing insights from a research perspective.
Consultancy Services: Academics can offer consultancy services to industries, applying their expertise to solve real-world problems.
Research Symposia and Conferences: Organize events where academics and industry professionals can share findings and network.
Collaborative Networks and Alliances: Establish formal networks or alliances to foster ongoing collaboration and dialogue between academia and industry.
Serve on Technical Committees: In technical committees, academics and industry players come together to develop recommendations for the profession.

When we talk about industry collaboration, we most often think about research collaborations: either by carrying out research for the industry, or by applying together for funding. However, there are more ways in which you can collaborate, represented in this list of ideas together with the traditional approach:

Joint Research Projects: Collaborate on research projects that align with both academic interests and industry needs.
Faculty Internships: As a faculty member, you can spend a short research stay or a full sabbatical in the industry to gain practical knowledge, think about the needs of the industry for your future research, or enjoy a new environment and way of working.
Exchange Programs: Implement exchange programs where academic staff and industry professionals can experience each other’s environments.
Co-authored Publications: Publish joint research findings, showcasing the synergy of academic and industrial expertise.
Patent Development: Work together on patents, combining academic innovation with industry resources for development and commercialization.
Laboratory Sharing: Share university laboratories with industry partners for research and development, optimizing resource use.
Corporate-Sponsored Research Chairs: Establish research positions funded by corporations, focusing on areas of strategic importance to the industry.
Innovation Hubs and Incubators: Create spaces where academic and industry professionals can collaborate on innovative projects.
Joint Grant Applications: Apply for research grants together, leveraging the strengths of both academia and industry.