How good are UK universities at commercially exploiting their technical innovations?
Maybe it is a symptom of the British Disease: academics in the UK disagreeing about the success of their universities’ technology transfers. In practice it may just be they are talking about different shades of success and, if the US is the benchmark, whether they are comparing like with like. Research by Nottingham University’s Business School in 2004 rather set the tone by suggesting that while UK universities were keen to create spin-out companies, far too few of those became successful businesses. Three years on the researcher, Professor Mike Wright, said things had improved to an extent. Fellowships For one thing, universities were being more selective in creating companies they believed had growth prospects “rather than almost creating them willy nilly”. Bringing people in from outside the university sector can be quite problematical – they just don’t get it Prof Mike Wright, Nottingham University There had also been some big successes and about 26 Stock Market flotations. And fi
