This PLOS Community Guide breaks down university – industry collaboration into manageable steps, with an emphasis on clarity of expectations and mutual benefit. While framed for early career researchers, it is very transferable for established researchers who want to formalise external collaboration or scale it without creating avoidable risk.
The guide will help you to:
- Understand common models of university – industry collaboration and what each is suited for
- Set expectations early on goals, timelines, outputs, publications, and confidentiality
- Anticipate practical issues such as IP, data sharing, and managing different incentives and the benefits of active engagement with Research and Innovation teams.
What will you take forward?
One thing to consider: What are the three expectations you most need to make explicit at the start (outputs, timelines, IP/publication), and what do you assume the partner expects?
“Not all networking needs to result in an immediate output or grant. There is value in simply keeping in touch.”
Professor of Biomechanics. Read more from this career story.
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