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The University of Arizona is enthusiastic about collaborations with local, regional and national companies when those relationships further the University's research, teaching, or service missions. Some common roles for the industry partner in relationships managed by OTT are as sponsors of research, as licensees of patents and commercially oriented copyrights, and as partners in activities related to economic development.
Most university-industry research projects originate from prior contacts at professional meetings or from an awareness of compatible research interests as displayed in scholarly publications. Companies that have not established prior contacts can seek principal investigators with compatible research interests by consulting one or more of the research-related offices at UA.
Once one or more prospective principal investigators have been identified, companies may contact them directly to discuss a proposed project and its work statement, time lines, funding level, and requirements for personnel and equipment. Indirect cost rates and intellectual property issues can be discussed in a very general way, but commitments in these areas can be made only by the Office of Research Contract and Analysis or the Office of Technology Transfer (see Related Units).
In addition to sponsoring research directly, i.e. from corporate assets, small companies can partner with the University and seek funding under federal programs that encourage university-industry collaboration, such as the SBIR program component of major federal funding agencies: NASA, NIH, NSF, EPA, DoD, and NIST.
Companies can collaborate with the University by becoming licensees of UA patented inventions and copyrighted computer software. The licensing relationship often leads to further links in the form of research projects, student interns and hires, private consulting arrangements by faculty members, and the University welcomes such expanded relationships.
OTT regularly consults with local agencies focused on economic development, and engages directly by licensing UA technologies to promising local start-up companies. More broadly based activities within UA are coordinated through the University's Office of Economic Development.
