Conferences

5–6 June 2017, Bologna Business School, Bologna, Italy
University-Industry Collaborations and Academic Entrepreneurship: East meets West

The social and economic benefits of converting academic research into practical applications are undisputable. Hence, the issue of science commercialization is receiving considerable interest among policy makers and scholars across many fields. Two distinct literatures, examining the intersections between scientific research and commercial application, relate to university-industry collaboration and academic entrepreneurship. Research on such topics in these two domains share many of the same underlying issues: i.e., overcoming cultural differences between academia and industry, managing technological and market uncertainties, and leveraging resources and support from diverse stakeholders. However, these literatures rarely refer to each other.

This workshop, the fifth in its series of EuroAsia gatherings, seeks to bring together experts from both domains to present and discuss their current research. Moreover, we seek to gather academics from both Asian and European institutions (but not only). Our aim is to provide an inspiring platform to share common research interests, exchange ideas, and explore future collaboration opportunities.

We look for contributions to advance theoretical development and empirical understanding of innovation and entrepreneurship involving university research. We are particularly looking for contributions related to the following three themes:

  1. The engaged scientist and their research team. The key actor in both university-industry collaborations and academic entrepreneurship is the scientist or research team developing the knowledge or technology. Potential research questions include how different types of scientists and research teams engage in research commercialization, the antecedents and consequences of such engagement, and the interplay of different modes of engagement.
  2. The innovative firm. Science commercialization involves an innovative firm, either as a collaboration partner for universities or in the instance of academic entrepreneurship where a new spin-off firm is established. Key research issues include how both new and established firms manage their relationship with universities, how they develop new science-based technologies and identify markets, and how they mobilize tangible and intangible resources to sustain the commercialization process.
  3. The entrepreneurial ecosystem. The context is increasingly emphasized as crucial for the initiation and successful outcome of university-industry collaboration and academic entrepreneurship. The notion of an ecosystem has become a popular conceptualization of the complex interplay of many different actors in promoting the creation of new business activity. In our context, potential research may involve the role of government and intermediary actors for science commercialization, the role of regional dimensions on science commercialization, and the economic and societal impacts of different science commercialization efforts.

https://events.unibo.it/workshop-uic-east-west-bologna

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