Research excellence and university-industry collaboration in UK science parks

Abstract

This study analyses co-authorships (1975–2010) with organizations located on UK Science Parks (SPs) and similar support infrastructures to identify their structural organization and the role of universities. Social network analysis and descriptive statistics are applied. The results suggest that most collaboration is with off-park organizations and that academic institutions are the main source of knowledge and competence for on-park industries. Moreover, high quality research institutions are much more likely to establish strong links in the form of co-authorships. This finding is partly a result of the statistical significance testing method used, however, since smaller institutions naturally create fewer links and therefore produce less statistical evidence of impact, even if their impact is, on average, the same as for larger institutions. Nevertheless, if the main aim is to promote research activities and joint publications between academia and on-park industry, the research excellence of universities needs to be considered when a SP is created. The economic benefits of joint publications for academic and private partners have not been examined, however, and therefore, it cannot be concluded that small higher education institutions having few joint publications with on-park firms play an insignificant role in the support and development of private partners.