Knowledge Transfer in Public Research Better than Believed

One in ten companies in Germany engaging in innovation uses scientific findings for the development of new products and processes. The knowledge and technology transfer between academia and businesses works far better than most people think.

This is the result of a joint study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, the Ifo Institute for Economic Research and the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim.

The study shows that the level of technology transfer between the businesses and public research varies depending on the type of institution. In half of all cases in which businesses use scientific findings to inform their innovation activities, they collaborate with universities. Universities of applied sciences rank in second place, collaborating with businesses in almost 20 per cent of cases. It is particularly smaller businesses which choose these institutions as collaborative partners. The Fraunhofer Institute comes third with ten per cent. In all three types of institution, knowledge transfer mainly occurs via direct collaboration of businesses in research projects. Publications also play an important role in ensuring knowledge exchange. This is particularly true for the Max Planck Institute and Helmholtz Centres. When it comes to universities of applied sciences and technical universities, diploma theses written in collaboration with a company constitute an important form of collaboration.

Personal and direct contact between researchers in businesses and research institutions is a critical factor for successful knowledge transfer. Staff mobility between academia and industry is therefore of fundamental importance. Around 5 per cent of the approximate 50,000 researchers working in the fields of Natural Sciences and Engineering in German universities, transfer into industry each year. In the case of the Fraunhofer Institutes, which employ a total of 6,500 researchers, and the Helmholtz Association, which with 22,000 researchers is the largest non-university research institution in Germany, a respective 4 and 3 per cent of researchers transfer each year. Even in the Max Planck Institutes, which are strongly oriented towards basic research, and the Blue List institutes, staff transition into industry is an important means of knowledge transfer with an annual rate of two to three per cent.

In order to further intensify knowledge transfer between academia and industry, the study recommends that more incentives should be provided for scientists in public research, e.g. with respect to public services law, patent exploitation or the recognition of knowledge transfer activities. The study also proposes that collaboration should not only be strengthened between industry and academia but also between basic research-oriented and application-oriented public research institutions.

Contact

Dr. Christian Rammer, Phone: +49(0)621/1235-184, E-mail: rammer@zew.de

Prof. Dr. Dirk Czarnitzki, Phone: +49(0)621/1235-194, E-mail: czarnitzki@zew.de