Comparing universities by number of papers, inventions and industry research funding - MELBA KURMAN, Triple Helix Innovation

A university’s ability to create and share innovative technology and know-how should be evaluated in a holistic way that includes both academic and commercial activities. In this article I compare the innovation transfer activities of U.S. research universities in a new, multi-faceted way: by counting and mapping universities according to their ability to

• publish papers
• to generate new inventions
• and to attract industry research funding.

Why these three axes? A university’s scholarly publishing equals its ability to share knowledge via traditional channels; its invention activity reflects faculty interest in, and whether commercialization activity is valued on campus; industry funding equals the value of informal interactions between university and industry scientists (I’ll explain this one later). Combined, these arenas provide a holistic picture of a university’s activity in generating and sharing new technologies and scientific know-how.