In one of my own personal experiences with research IP in the commercial world, it took six months to set up a meeting with two leading research teams. Both universities and lab heads required a non-disclosure agreement to be signed before any exploration of collaboration could be entertained. That situation arose despite some positive collaborations already being in place across the teams, with investigators from each institution co-supervising doctoral students with cross-institutional placements. While I am yet to sign a confidentiality agreement when reviewing grants through the public system, I have been exposed to these measures as a matter of routine when dealing with industry partners – who are perhaps more aware of the significant financial losses that can occur when IP is distributed without consent. Is this process the way of the future, or just another hurdle to effective collaboration? Successful careers and collaborations can at times rely entirely on appropriate acknowledgement of intellectual contributions. The question to ponder: is the use of someone else’s ideas theft or just streamlined knowledge transfer and exchange? Adam Vogel, Senior Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. |
