Inventing And Investing In The Future At DCU

Collaboration with industry and encouraging entrepreneurial spirit among its researchers is at the heart of Dublin City University's Research Policy.

Dr. Declan Raftery, Director of Research at Dublin City University

The Government is collaborating with third level institutes in Ireland to achieve its goal of turning Ireland into what it is calling a ‘knowledge economy.' In order to do this it is encouraging institutes to commercialise the research they are carrying out and to engage with industry on projects that have an overall benefit for the economy.

Dublin City University [DCU] has excelled at collaborating with industry, according to Dr. Declan Raftery, who is Director of Research Support Services at DCU. This is because research and its integration with industry has been a part of DCU's policy at different levels. At undergraduate level students undertake six months industrial placements and at postgraduate research level the university is currently piloting a programme of industrial internships.

Large-Scale Collaborative Research

At a higher level the Office of the Vice-President for Research [OVPR] supports large-scale collaborative research programmes with commercial companies. An example of this is the Bristol-Myers Squibb Centre for Bioanalytical Science research programme, which is a €10 million IDA co-funded research project where the multinational is placing seven of its senior research scientists at DCU to work with the university's academic researchers on a number of projects.

The Invent - ‘DCU Commercialisation Gateway' facility at Dublin City University

The BMS programme, reports Raftery, was developed around the company's requirements. However the initiative can also come directly from the university, where often it approaches industry to support its research vision, such as its €22.6 million Biomedical Diagnostics Institute (BDI). The BDI received €16 million from Science Foundation Ireland's (SFI) Centres for Science, Engineering and Technology Programme, which was the largest ever such award by SFI, and the remainder from six major companies who are placing 12 researchers on campus. DCU works with a number of other organisations that collaborate with a number of high profile industry partners.

Facilitating Budding Entrepreneurs

"Some academics are budding entrepreneurs and we facilitate them, both academically and financially," says Raftery. To exploit this entrepreneurial spirit DCU has set up Invent, DCU's innovation and commercialisation centre. "Innovation and entrepreneurships are key drivers of economic and business success," says Raferty, "Invent has the infrastructure, the ability and the expertise to assist and advise industry, academia and researchers in their innovation, commercialisation and business development endeavours."

Invent

Invent helps researchers to explore the commercial options of their research, and works with DCU staff and DCU students on developing their ideas and projects. The centre also identifies, protects and exploits intellectual property, licenses IP to multinationals, SMEs and start-ups and assists inventors in commercialising their ideas. It also provides support mechanisms such as incubation space for start-ups, intrapreneurs and SME spin-ins.

"Working with the commercial sector to develop their research goals is an important aim for DCU," says Raftery. He believes there are a lot of successful companies in Ireland but as they are working in a very tight market they often don't have the budget for research or know how to go about setting it up. "What we tell them is to come in and talk to us and we will advise them on how to grow their business."

In order to help companies to identify appropriate research expertise in DCU, the DCU Research Support System was launched in 2000. This is a web-based searchable database of DCU staff research profiles and the publications and additional research activities of staff.

Looking Ahead

Looking to the future, Raftery aims to further commercialise the university's research activity, increase its collaboration with industry and thereby offer taxpayers a return on the investment the Government has made over the years in DCU. "We need even greater collaboration between SME's, Government Agencies and the universities, to underpin the future success of the Irish economy. DCU looks forward to continuing to play a central role in this regard," concludes Raferty.

There are also a number of other Research Bodies within DCU including:
	International Centre for Neurotherapeutics		LINK: The Learning, Innovation and Knowledge Research Centre
	Centre for Digital Video Processing		Materials Processing Research Centre
	Centre for International Studies		Vascular Health Research Centre
	Centre for Society, Information and Media		National Centre for Technology in Education
	Centre for the Advancement of Science Teaching and Learning		National Centre for Language Technology
	Centre for Translation and Textual Studies