Chapter 6 Building the Foundations for Academic EnterpriseSimon Mosey et al.Building the Foundations for Academic Enterprise: The Medici Fellowship Programme

Despite a recent increase in government funded intervention schemes a number of attitudinal and operational barriers continue to constrain university technology transfer in the UK (Wright, Birley, & Mosey, 2004). A recent report commissioned by the UK government (Lambert, 2003) asserts that the inability of some universities to develop links with industry is a key barrier to the commercialisation of research. Moreover it is argued that academics focus exclusively upon their research due to the explicit link to career progression (Slaughter & Leslie, 1997). As a result academics, in the main, remain reluctant to explore the potential for commercialising their research. This paper considers a novel fellowship scheme aiming to overcome these barriers by retraining academics and encouraging them to interact with their peers and with industry practitioners to help commercialise research within their schools.