Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

Commercialisation of research activities

Commercialisation of research activities in the humanities, arts and social sciences in Australia.

Toss Gascoigne and Jenni Metcalfe
May 2005

Executive summary

This report describes the commercial activities and examines the impediments and incentives facing humanities, arts and social sciences (HASS) researchers and educators at the tertiary level in Australia. It is a snapshot of who is commercialising research and how they approach this task, based on the findings of focus groups and questionnaires.

Mixed throughout the report are several case studies. These stories illustrate the tangible contribution and impact of the HASS sector in cultural, social and economic terms. The processes and benefits they set out are replicated a thousand times over in the humanities, arts and social sciences in Australia.

Services, such as research consultancy and contracting, were found to be the most common form of commercialisation amongst HASS researchers and practitioners, particularly in the area of government policy advice. This is supported by the finding that Australian and state government departments and agencies were the most frequently cited clients. The sciences, by contrast, tend to work on solutions to environmental and industry problems and creating new commercial opportunities.

The humanities, arts and social sciences are a broad and diverse field. Different disciplines face different issues in the process of commercialisation, and there are significant variations between disciplines in the sorts of commercialisation opportunities that they can pursue and the levels of financial reward they can generate. For example, the commercial possibilities, market arrangements and standards of practice in providing economic consulting or psychological counselling services are very different from those in the creative arts. Large tenders and grants are often available for research in the social sciences and education faculties, in contrast to the smaller grants more generally offered in the arts.

The benefits of commercialisation are reported as wide and varied. Commercial work enables researchers to improve their teaching and research as it gives them a better understanding of the needs of industry. It provides students with exposure to industry practices and research experience, a valued part of their training. For individuals, it can lead to a higher profile and enhanced promotional prospects, as well as improving business and negotiation skills. The economic rewards are also important: the money allows departments and faculties to fund research units, to hire staff, and to send researchers to conferences. It affords flexibility within a tightly-ordered university structure.

For many HASS researchers and educators, money is not the driving factor in the commercialisation of their work, nor are they comfortable with the idea that commercial imperatives should govern their research activities. But they are attracted to the idea of being relevant, influential and connected to their communities. Commercial activities allow them to engage with the community by helping solve social and community problems. Regional universities in particular place strong emphasis on supporting their communities. Some HASS researchers believe that they should be adequately funded to provide community research and services free of charge.

Much of the focus group discussion revolved around the challenges and impediments to commercialisation. Such challenges included dealing with unresponsive and ill-equipped university systems, finding the time and resources for commercial engagements, and working within funding and reward systems that recognise only a narrow band of activities. The attitudes of university administrators, departmental heads, individual researchers and their peers are seen as very important. The expansion of commercial opportunities is dependent on the existence of a research culture which recognises and rewards the sort of partnered commercial research already being undertaken in the HASS sectors.

Respondents said that while the most productive research often came from multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional collaborations, these are not encouraged by existing systems. They reported that possible sources of funding from the private sector were cut off because the Income Tax Assessment Act specifically excludes research in the humanities, arts and social sciences from the R&D tax concession. Respondents cited their own lack of business skills as an impediment.

Based on the suggestions of the study participants, recommendations are made across three broad areas:

• improvement of university practices to make them more encouraging and supportive of commercial activities;
• changes to government settings to recognise and reward HASS commercial activities; and
• development of new programs to equip people working in the humanities, arts and social sciences with the skills to handle commercial engagements.

 

Toss Gascoigne and Jenni Metcalfe May 2005

Download this paper in full   [PDF file size: 425.78 kB]   REF: PAP20050501TG

 

For more information, please contact:

Toss Gascoigne

Executive Director

Council of the Humanties, Arts and Social Sciences

Phone: +61 2 6249 1995

director@chass.org.au