Universities academic freedom

We are also indebted to the University of Siurey (APM/NS) and the University of Birmingham (NS) for allowing us the academic freedom to explore many of the strands that have been woven into the fabric of this book and for providing invaluable library facilities. 

The competing interests of confidential information and academic freedom can raise a difficult issue in an industry/university research agreement. If an academic institution is not free to publish the results of its research findings, it has failed to fulfill a part of its basic mission. Many universities have by-laws or regulations which guarantee faculty members complete academic freedom to publish research findings. At the other end of the spectrum, the corporate research sponsor is justifiably concerned about the loss of potentially valuable technical information through... 

In most situations the industrial sponsor should try to agree to publication of Background and University Technical Information (subject to prior review by both parties). To circumvent the "academic freedom" obstacle (and protect valuable research developments), corporate sponsors of university research should request the right to review papers or articles by university scientific personnel pertaining to the Sponsored Research field sufficiently in advance of the time they are to be submitted for publication. The advance review period should afford the corporate party adequate time to evaluate the proposed publication for the presence of patentable subject matter or Corporate Technical Information. Publication of an invention prior to filing a patent application can bar most foreign patent protection (e.g. European Patent Convention Article 54) and disclosure. 

The premature death of Dr. Joseph W. Kennedy, Chairman of the Chemistry Department at Washington University, was a serious blow to Sowden, as well as to his colleagues in the department. Kennedy had done a masterful staffing and building job, and was a staunch supporter of academic freedom. To his associates, Sowden showed many of Kennedy s administrative talents, yet it was characteristic of him that he was unaware that he was being observed by his colleagues as a possible successor... 

There are three keys to success in the EPIC approach. One is the upfront requirement that there be endorsement from member companies of a proposed university project before it begins. At first this was viewed by some faculty members as an intrusion of their rights to select their own research topics-a coopting of academic freedom. However, as the relationship evolved, it became clear that it did not follow that a research project offering the promise of eventual commercial application necessarily required a lower order of research inquiry. 

At the faculty level, the notion of academic freedom is often misused to avoid compliance with safety regulations, and faculty members typically cannot be forced to comply with safety rules. Although every chemistry department has faculty members who were educated and trained in Western universities that have higher safety standards, the effect of their training is barely felt. Because safety has very low priority, there is hardly any safety instruction, and there are few training workshops for safety officers for this purpose. 

The University of Leeds Institute for Transport Studies, for providing Dr. Jamson the academic freedom to work on the book Peter Bums (Transport Canada), Neale Kinnear (TRL), and Kristie Young (MUARC) for providing chapter reviews... 

After graduation, he fulfilled his father s hopes by working in the chemical industry and his father s business for a period of time. However, he was unable to satisfy his personal ambitions in industry and he finally decided to seek academic freedom by working in a university. His first position was at the University of Jena under Professor Knorr. He then joined the Technische Hochschule in Karlsruhe at the age of twenty-five as a research assistant, in the Department of Chemical and Fuel Technology working on the thermal decomposition of hydrocarbons. 

Metzger, 1961. Walter P. Metzger. Academic Freedom in the Age of the University. New York Columbia University Press. 

Hansen, W. L. (1998). Academic freedom on trial 100 years of sifting and winnowing at the University ofWisconsin-Madison. Madison University of Wisconsin Press. 

I left industry for academic employment because I lost faith in my primary project which turned out not to be economically feasible. .. Then, I found myself not really enjoying the lab that much... I knew that any other industrial position would require working on whatever the company dictated. I just felt that I didn t want that restriction anymore. I wanted to have the freedom to work on what I wanted. .. and a university environment provided that. 

Join the pharmaceiitical industry if you want to participate in structured chemical research. But take a job knowing how the organization of drug discovery and development affects chemists careers. An industrial position liberates senior researchers from the fund raising they would undertake in academe but entails a sacrifice of freedom uncommon in university science. 

There are clearly those who don t care to compromise their freedom to pursue any problem they wish, and certainly anyone joining a corporation has to do that to some degree. It is fortunate if the area of your interest just happens to also be an area of corporate interest. Still, one is dependent upon the markets and the shifts of the commercial winds. There is not absolute security in corporate science any more than there is in academic science. Some would prefer the freedom of academia, and, fortunately, some genuinely love teaching. As long as there is federal support for research and there are universities, I would be very surprised to see a lowering of quality of academic faculties due to the drain into corporations. These are clearly two kinds of institutions for which our scientific resources are adequate to fill the needs of both. 

Section III examines "The Relationship of Industrial Innovation to Productivity," and concludes that there is consensus of scholars that "the contribution of R D to economic growth Is high." Section IV on "The Relationships Between Universities and Industry" notes the "natural barriers" between university and industry that may obstruct the transfer of academic basic research to industrial utilization. These Include differences with regard to patents, publications, and freedom of research directions. Concludes "the transfer of knowledge between academic science and Industrial application requires active effort on both sides."... 

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