New research partnership guides help smooth collaboration between business, post-secondary institutions

Companies looking to build innovative technologies, capitalize on expertise and solve business challenges have new resources to help them work with Canada’s post-secondary institutions, including the University of Calgary.

Earlier this week, the Business/Higher Education Roundtable (BHER) released two new publications, the Guide to Research Partnerships with Canada’s Colleges and Polytechnics and Guide to Research Partnerships with Canada’s Universities, which outline the practical steps businesses can take to create mutually beneficial agreements with post-secondary institutions.

University of Calgary President Elizabeth Cannon is a co-chair of BHER, a group composed of leaders from the private sector, universities, colleges and polytechnics. BHER works to support students as they transition from education to the workplace, to strengthen research collaboration between industry and post-secondary institutions, and to help Canadian employers as they adapt to the economy of the future.

“At the University of Calgary, we are committed to leading research that enriches all aspects of our community,” says Cannon. “Finding ways to work more collaboratively with industry partners and helping those partners to better understand our research culture produces a win-win situation for all.”

Designed to be open-sourced and customizable by individual schools, the guides contain advice for businesses on approaching institutions to work collaboratively on projects; as well, they offer examples of current research partnership agreements.  Also included are case studies of successful partnerships.

Developed in partnership with Polytechnics Canada and the U15 Group of Research Universities, the guides are an initiative of BHER’s research partnerships working group.

“Our goal when developing these guides was that above all else, they need to be practical,” says Meric Gertler, president of the University of Toronto and chair of BHER’s research partnerships working group.

“By providing a pathway to starting a partnership, we hope more businesses and post-secondary institutions will tackle the challenges of the future together.”