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A Case Study of Industry and Academia Collaboration

Article · January 2021

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Paul Harvey
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A Case Study of Industry and Academia Collaboration
By Paul Harvey
26 January 2021

Between September and December 2020 I organised and led a discussion group for individuals
interested in scientific research, but doing so outside of business hours, for recreation, personal
satisfaction, or personal development, or in uncommon research environments.

I received interest from four people to join the group. It was advertised with an Australian scientific
organisation, was open to all and free. We met for one hour once a week for five weeks. The first
meeting had three attendees, including me, the next three I attended by myself, the fifth had two
attendees, and I also held a separate meeting with one participant. I had previously tried to attract
participants to discussion events by personally asking some and asking two engineering
organisations for advertisement. I received only four attendees to about ten events and the
organisations declined my requests.

My reasons for organising were:

• Scientific research is highly desirable, it is an application of critical thought, imagination,
creativity, and independence, yet very few direct opportunities exist in Australia to receive
support for research.
• My experience suggests the best, perhaps only, way to develop skills is to associate and
collaborate with others of similar interests.
• To seek friends, those with similar interests, something for which I am always seeking.
• To practise leadership and management.

The topics addressed were:

• Choosing a topic and thesis. Generalising and specifying research.
• Strategies to develop research skills. Gaining information. Devising test methods.
Evaluating results.
• How to motivate yourself? Is there a need for milestones and goals?
• How to find collaborators? How to find mentors? Strategies to receive feedback from others.
• Ethics of independent research. Conflicts of interest. Acting as a researcher and personal
interests as a researcher.
• Opportunities to extend research. Part-time study, seeking organisation support, and
scholarships.
• Mental health for independent researchers.

To some these topics my seem trivial, but my experience has found them incredibly difficult to
achieve.

Was the group successful? Apparently it is easy to say no because it was hard to collaborate with
others when I was the only participant in three of the five meetings. When we did meet, I realised
the others were all from academic backgrounds and were apparently less interested in me as I have
an industry background.

However, I feel I made very small advancements. First, I earned four hours time from the other
participants, which is something of which I am proud. Second, when I felt most disappointed
because I realised the group’s meetings weren’t working, I received a little feedback from the group
by email, which encouraged me.
 Probably most importantly, however, I learnt that the middle ground between industry and academia
is somewhere I can champion because few others believe in this opportunity. Though I should be
prepared for the loneliness I will encounter as I strive to fulfil my talents. This experience
strengthened my individuality.

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