Developing a Funding and Research Relationship with Industry Partners — An Industry Perspective
Christopher Saint | 20 August 2021
Engaging industry partners is a performance that needs good timing and delivery writes OO Senior Associate Christopher Saint
Image by Michel Grolet @garnet_photographer
In essence, like being a good comedian, many of the things you need to do come down to the right timing and delivery, so that you keep your customer interested (they don’t walk out of the show) and they are getting value for money. If you do this they will come looking for you again (they’ll buy tickets for a future show) and you will get “return business” - something which is being used as an assessment tool in engagement and impact areas of ERA now.
1. NEVER approach a prospective partner with the attitude of demonstrating how smart you are and what brilliant research you do (build aspects of that in later and with subtlety!).
2. If they get the sense you are tapping them up for funding to carry on doing what you want to do they will run a mile!
3. NEVER approach a partner for funding a month or so before the deadline, as even though what you propose might be liked, an industry partner will have difficulty securing a funding commitment in such a short period. The person you are talking to in the organisation will most likely need to seek higher approval and it makes people uncomfortable to have to hassle their boss/bosses at short notice!
4. Start building a relationship preferably 2-3 yrs before you intend making a large grant application such as an ARC linkage or CRC-P. Generally, assessors like to see demonstration that a collaboration has not just been thrown together but planned and built on. If you have some track record of success with the partner prior this really helps.
Planning your approach
0-12 months
Make contact and meet with key operators. Obtain (or request) the company strategic/business plan. A bit like a job interview it always makes sense to go to initial meetings already knowing something about the company and where it is heading. Work with them to develop priorities and above all else LISTEN.
You may decide that it would be beneficial to get a few key researchers and operators in a room for a focussed workshop to develop outline projects. Don’t forget we are largely talking about applied science here – there may be opportunities to problem solve with them (there is no better way in fact to demonstrate how smart you are than by coming up with suggestions to fix an issue, in turn this then rolls into a successful example of how you have worked with the partner previously). There may be an opportunity to conduct a short consultancy or an opportunity for a student.
12-24 months
Priority project(s) should now be established and agreement on how they will be funded reached. Remember – government and industry partners have to budget well ahead of when the funds are actually required.
They work on financial years and it’s quite usual to have a draft budget prepared by December of the calendar year prior to the next financial year (i.e. December for commencement in July the following year). This will then spend some weeks going through all the necessary approvals, which means any late changes are not appreciated. With regard to the new model of ARC Linkage calls there is a little more flexibility around submission timing now. This type of budgeting also creates opportunities though – for example it’s not uncommon for government departments to get to the end of the 3rd quarter of the financial year (March 31st ) to find they have underspent – this can be an opportunity for funding of small research projects or indeed it’s not unusual for partners to want to pre-pay a contribution to a university if funds allow.
24 months and beyond
So your ARC Linkage (or similar) has now been submitted, remember to keep your industry partner informed of its progress. Make sure you feed back reviewers’ comments and seek partners’ input into the rejoinder where possible.
Unsuccessful – feedback scores and what they mean, where did the application sit? Was it competitive? Sit down and plan a revised strategy with your partner(s) that also includes alternative funding options.
Successful – Make sure you include your partner(s) in any bragging opportunities. Work diligently with partner(s), the research office and legal team (if necessary) to draw up a satisfactory project agreement. This is where there is no turning back on commitment, i.e. no longer “in principle” commitment.
Delivering your project
If you have followed the previous suggestions then the management of the project will be obvious to you – more of the same really – progress meetings, workshops, plus public presentations at not only specialist conferences but also “trade” symposiums and conferences, joint media opportunities.
Prof Christopher P. Saint
Professor Christopher P. Saint was most recently Dean of Research & Innovation in The Division of Information Technology, Engineering & Environment at UniSA and following his retirement at the end of 2019 was appointed Emeritus Professor. Prior to joining UniSA in 2011 he was Research, Development and Innovation Manager at SA Water Corporation in Adelaide.
