Brunel University has recently appointed David Riley as its voluntary “entrepreneur in residence” in an attempt to foster greater links with businesses and help academics to further the impact of their research, reports THE.
Mr Riley plans to work with academics and students across the whole university, covering science and humanities subjects as well as sports and other areas which have have not traditionally had strong relationships with businesses or a focus on making wider impact.
It is hoped that pairing Mr Riley with academics will enable the university to achieve higher impacts in a range of areas, as academics learn how to make the most of their research findings and intellectual-property rights.
Mr Riley was quoted as saying that the primary problem he had encountered was the failure of academics in different parts of the university to interact and share existing knowledge with their peers. Tina Ramkalawan, a tutor at Brunel Graduate School commented on the importance of “not thinking that academia is the be-all and end-all. You never know where your research might lead and who it might be of interest to.”