Collaborative research and development projects : a practical guide

A lot of time and money is invested in collaborative research and development projects at universities, research institutes and companies. But how should these complex projects be planned and run to create valuable commercial outcomes?

This book is a manual for all individuals and organisations from academia and industry working together on research and development projects. Whether grant funded, company to company or academic to company, this inspiring and highly readable book covers winning grant support, the legal arrangements, working with academics and practitioners, managing project progress and exploiting the project results.

The examples, practical methods and tips in this book will not only help the reader prepare for grant applications, but more importantly help to achieve the best results and returns from every collaborative project.

Ray Browne

Foreword	p. v
Introduction	p. 1
1 Grant funding	p. 5
1.1 States aids	p. 5
European states aid rules	p. 6
What can be funded?	p. 7
1.2 Additionality	p. 9
Market failure	p. 9
Knowledge spill-over	p. 10
Knowledge transfer	p. 11
Criticality of funding	p. 12
Technology readiness levels	p. 13
1.3 Eligible costs	p. 14
Labour costs	p. 14
Overheads	p. 16
Other eligible cost headings	p. 17
1.4 Financial management	p. 19
Keeping records	p. 19
Audit requirements	p. 20
Monitoring your spending	p. 20
1.5 Grant contracts and offers	p. 21
Grant terms and conditions	p. 22
Reporting and monitoring	p. 24
1.6 Winning grants	p. 25
Picking the right grant	p. 26
Instructions and briefings	p. 26
Get the basics right	p. 28
Build the right team	p. 30
Interviews	p. 32
Learn from disappointments	p. 33
1.7 So in conclusion	p. 34
2 Legal arrangements	p. 37
2.1 Purpose of the agreement	p. 38
2.2 Agreement terms	p. 39
Scope of the project	p. 39
Responsibilities and liabilities	p. 39
Project management	p. 40
Changing the consortium	p. 41
Termination	p. 42
Financial management & grant distribution	p. 43
Intellectual property rights	p. 44
Publication and announcements	p. 45
Confidentiality	p. 46
Boiler plate	p. 47
2.3 Working with lawyers	p. 47
2.4 So in conclusion	p. 48
3 Getting off to a good start	p. 49
3.1 The business case	p. 49
Qualitative and quantitative objectives	p. 51
Analysing the benefits	p. 52
Define the customers	p. 53
Analysing the problems to be solved	p. 53
The market opportunities	p. 55
The project deliverables	p. 56
Potential returns	p. 56
Do you have a project?	p. 59
3.2 Collaborative project planning	p. 60
Do you still have a project?	p. 73
3.3 So in conclusion	p. 74
4 Maintaining momentum	p. 77
4.1 Project control	p. 78
Steering committees	p. 79
4.2 Detailed planning	p. 82
4.3 Managing risk	p. 83
Types of risk	p. 83
Risk management	p. 84
4.4 Project leadership	p. 88
Communication	p. 89
4.5 Working with monitoring officers	p. 90
4.6 So in conclusion	p. 91
5 Working with academics	p. 93
5.1 Academic objectives	p. 93
Publications	p. 95
5.2 Attitude to risk	p. 96
5.3 Agility	p. 97
5.4 Academic seasons	p. 98
5.5 Ownership of IPR	p. 99
5.6 Academic finance offices	p. 100
5.7 So in conclusion	p. 101
6 Working with industrialists	p. 103
6.1 Commercial motivations	p. 103
6.2 Agility	p. 104
6.3 Cash flow	p. 105
6.4 Micro companies	p. 106
6.5 So in conclusion	p. 109
7 Managing problems	p. 111
7.1 Parmer problems	p. 111
Finding replacement partners	p. 116
7.2 Relationship breakdowns	p. 118
7.3 Delays and overspends	p. 120
7.4 Technical failures	p. 122
7.5 Market changes	p. 122
7.6 How to avoid problems	p. 123
7.7 So in conclusion	p. 124
8 Exploiting the results	p. 127
8.1 What counts as exploitation?	p. 127
8.2 Business case	p. 129
8.3 When and what to plan	p. 129
8.4 Market understanding	p. 130
Analysing the market opportunity	p. 131
Quantifying the market opportunity	p. 137
Understanding the industry forces	p. 140
8.5 Exploitation plan	p. 145
The market opportunity	p. 146
The route to market	p. 146
Additional development requirements	p. 146
Standards and accreditation	p. 147
The plan for the future	p. 147
Presentation	p. 147
8.6 Licensing	p. 148
Access to background intellectual property	p. 148
Ownership of foreground intellectual property	p. 149
Third party licensing	p. 149
8.7 Exploitation vehicles	p. 149
8.8 Dissemination	p. 150
8.9 So in conclusion	p. 151
9 Project completion	p. 153
9.1 Reaching the finishing line	p. 153
9.2 Documentation	p. 155
9.3 Post completion reviews	p. 156
9.4 Project close meeting & festivities	p. 156
9.5 So in conclusion	p. 157
10 Closing remarks	p. 159
Glossary	p. 161
Index	p. 167

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Table of Contents