U. California system ranks No. 2 in transferring research to industry

[Leigh Meyers <leighcmeyers@xxxxxxxxx>]

I'd like to see a correlation of  %/defense industry funding of said
research compared to the school's ranking, and the same variable on
income-per-patent.


Study: U. California system ranks No. 2 in transferring research to industry

By Matthew Koh
Daily Californian (UC-Berkeley)
http://www.uwire.com/content//topnews092706002.html

09/27/2006
(U-WIRE) BERKELEY, Calif. -- A new study has ranked the University of
California system as the No. 2 institution in terms of technology
transfer from research to industry.

The study, published last week by independent think tank the Milken
Institute, ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology as the top
school. The top-ranked individual UC campus was UCSF in the 19th spot,
with UC-Berkeley ranked No. 29.

The study, which surveyed 135 universities, created a "technology
transfer and commercialization" index that was a composite of four
different outcome measures. These measures were licenses granted,
patents issued, licensing income, and the number of start-up companies
formed.

Equal weight was given to absolute outcomes and relative outcomes after
being adjusted for the amount of research expenditures spent in each
endeavor.

The purpose of the study was to bring attention to the importance of
research quality in technology transfer and to highlight the lack of
availability of public data in other countries, said Armen Bedroussian,
research economist at the Milken Institute.

"What this study did for the first time is basically show the importance
of what goes in, in terms of quality of researchers and research being
done, to what comes out," he said.

The study also examined the quantity and quality of research published
and the number of biotech patents issued.

A high correlation between research and licensing income was found by
the study, with every 10-point increase in the research score
corresponding to an additional $1.7 million in income.

In fiscal year 2005, the UC system earned a total of $54.8 million,
after expenses, from royalties and fees due to inventors.

UC-Berkeley earned $3.5 million and UCSF earned $9.2 million, according
to UC Office of Technology Transfer's 2005 Annual Report. The office
oversees the administration of the university's intellectual property.

The majority of that money came from a few key inventions. Of UC-
Berkeley's income from royalties, 75.3 percent came from just five
inventions, the report stated.

The inventor of the technology receives 35 percent of the net income.
After investor shares and other expenses are paid, 25 percent of the
money goes to a general fund for the entire UC system with the remainder
going to the campus that developed the technology, said Christine Burke,
spokesperson for the UC Office of Technology Transfer.

Burke said she believes that entrepreneurship resulting from university
research has the potential to bring help to the world.

"I think there's a fear that people would spend too much time focusing
on the applications but I think the upside is that people can do lots of
good with it," Burke said. "People focus on how much money is made but
focus should be on how much good it does for the public."