U.S.-Finland Cooperative Research: Models for University-Industry Interaction and Entrepreneurship in Finland

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

0219161 Lester This award supports Fraser Fleming and a student from Duquesne University in a a collaboration with Seija Kulkki of the Center for Knowledge and Innovation Research at the Helsinki School of Economics in Helsinki, Finland. The project will focus on the impact of different external and internal forces on the economic role of the universities, particularly the technological universities and thus on the nature of industry-university interactions. Implications for this dynamic relationship are to be found in many aspects of business development and entrepreneurship in Finland. While many scholars have written about the importance of research universities in the growth of agglomerations of high-technology industry and of close ties between universities and industrial organizations as a contributor to economic development, much remains to be learned about the dynamics of the process. The main questions to be addressed by the present study are how the universities are adapting to the chances in external forces that affect them, how the missions of the universities are changing in response to changing conditions in society with respect to stimulating regional growth, and what organizational structures and processes are used to help technology transfer and business incubation. The collection and analysis of data will be done in conjunction with the group in Helsinki and several junior researcher from the US group will participate in the international collaboration.