industry & research campusreview. com. au
The idea is to make money
Industry-led think tank looks to finally crack the code for widespread commercialisation of Australian research.
Interviews by Antonia Maiolo
Australia is a leader when it comes to producing world-class research; however, it still struggles to transform scientific discoveries into commercial success. This, according to experts in the field, could have wide-ranging ramifications.
“ A thorough examination of the Australian scientific research sector uncovered that many researchers are struggling to achieve the final steps in their research continuum: successful commercialisation,” Reich Webber-Montenegro, director marketing, inside sales and shared services at Sigma-Aldrich Oceania, says.
This gap, Webber-Montenegro says, is even more real amongst early- to mid-career researchers( EMCRs) and may discourage them from continually pursuing meaningful and ongoing scientific endeavours.
“ If this risk becomes a reality, Australia may see a huge dip in the innovation ecosystem and associated returns generated by a dynamic research industry,” she said.
In response to the challenge many EMCRs face, Sigma-Aldrich recently launched the Science Next Collaborative( SNC), bringing together leading Australian scientists to help EMCRs secure economic returns for their scientific discoveries.
Associate professor Derek Richard, director of research, School of Biomedical Sciences at the Queensland University of Technology and SNC Think Tank member, highlighted the importance of the initiative.
“ Australia has a world-class reputation for scientific research outputs. We produce 3 per cent of the world’ s research, whilst representing only 0.3 per cent of the population.
“ However there seem to be additional challenges for today’ s young researchers. University enrolments in science and the number of PhD students are stalling, which has led to industrywide concern for Australia’ s standing as a science and research powerhouse,” Richard said.“ It’ s usually difficult for young researchers to take their discoveries through to commercialisation, possibly due to a lack of experience in intellectual property protection, market research, lodging patents and gaining working capital, which are all fundamental elements in the commercialisation of research.”
Here, Campus Review speaks with Webber- Montenegro and professor David James, from the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney, about the obstacles EMCRs are dealing with, how SNC will address them, and the involvement of academics, including James, as SNC Think Tank ambassadors.
CR: Reich, what prompted the creation of this initiative, and how did Sigma-Aldrich get involved? W-M: Sigma-Aldrich has always been committed to the life sciences industry, and upon my joining the company about 18 months ago, a review of our strategy focused on the need for a stakeholder engagement program. A few months later, we also ran an exhaustive audit and conducted a few studies in which we spoke to customers individually or in groups. A lot of themes came out. One of which was this need to help enable [ EMCRs to ] traverse the continuum from basic to translational research and its commercialisation successfully. So looking at putting both of them together – our strategy and the EMCRs ' needs – was the initial impetus for the Science Next Collaborative. This is my brain-child and I am excited and proud and we look forward to its success.
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