The University expects all research undertaken with industry to recover at least 100% of FEC. In circumstances where this is not the case, or where there is not an agreed institutional approach with a particular funder, the proposal will be referred by R&IS to the Provost and Group Finance Director for approval. This referral should occur prior to negotiation with the potential industry partner, to avoid the University weakening its position with regards to this negotiation, and to avoid the inadvertent setting of a University pricing precedent with an industry partner that could affect future negotiations.

The University has in place framework agreements with some of its strategic partners. R&IS shall in those cases negotiate and agree costs and terms in line with these standard agreements.

Price negotiations with potential industry partners should bear in mind the following factors:

• The Full Economic Cost of delivering the research;
• Ownership of Intellectual Property;
• Exploitation of results;
• Whether the project provides the opportunity to develop a new area of research or a potentially long term strategic relationship with a funder
• The competitive nature of the market environment for the research in question.
• The risk to the University, including in terms of any warranties, indemnities and liabilities.

Section 14.2.2 (assume we arent having the indexing?) detailed the statutory ‘public benefit’ requirements that apply to universities with regards to the research that they conduct. This is particularly relevant, and should be carefully considered, when the University wishes to engage in research with an industry partner. R&IS and the Department should consider:

• In undertaking the research, is the University acting solely in furtherance of its charitable aims of teaching and research?
• Is the subject matter of the proposed research a useful subject of study?
• Will the research be conducted for the benefit of the public or a section of the public?
• Is it intended that knowledge acquired will be disseminated to the public and others able to utilise or benefit from it? Research must not be undertaken solely for private or commercial consumption, and must be disseminated by one of the following channels:
  • Teaching
  • Publication of papers in academic journals, books, booklets, magazine articles, papers, or sundry notes. It is acceptable to restrict access to HEIs and other educational research establishments for persons who have sufficient reason to study the material concerned provided that the material is catalogued and its existence made publicly known;
  • Registration of arising Intellectual Property Rights;
  • Exploitation of arising Intellectual Property Rights, providing this exploitation falls within the University’s charitable objects (the example provided by the Guidance being exploitation leading to new medical treatments.

The University must ensure that, in the case of private or commercially funded research, the tests outlined above are met; for example, that there is a timely dissemination of research outputs into the public domain, and/or that the research outputs are used by the University in the furthering of education. In the case of private or commercially funded research, factors such as proposed restrictions on the dissemination of results and the ownership of Intellectual Property Rights may arise, and must in each case be referred back to the University’s charitable aims and to the objective of public benefit, in order that the University can satisfy itself that the research is in line with both principles. Taking the public dissemination of research outputs as an example, the longer any delay in publication of results beyond the normal academic timetable of six months, the greater the burden of proof on the University to show that the delay is reasonable in the circumstances.

The University shall refer all private or commercially funded research projects, regardless of value, to the Head of Research Support & Contracts and/or the Director of Research & Impact Services, who shall escalate any concerns around the ‘public benefit’ test to the Group Finance Director or nominated alternate.

In cases where a private or commercial sponsor does receive a private benefit in the form of pre-publication access to research findings or ownership of IPR, this shall only be acceptable under the Charities Commission Guidance where such private benefit can be demonstrably justified as, ‘legitimately incidental to action properly taken by the University in the interests of the University for public benefit, i.e. necessary, reasonable, and in the interests of the University…. in the circumstances’. Specifically, the Guidance provides that,

‘Private benefits will be incidental if it can be shown that they directly contribute towards achieving the charity’s aims and/or are a necessary result or by-product of carrying out these aims’ in that the private benefit ‘follows from some action that is only taken with the intention of furthering the University’s aims and ‘the amount of private benefit is reasonable in the circumstances’. ‘