ABSTRACT

Traditionally, universities have focused on two missions: teaching and research. While the universities still fulfill these missions, a third mission has been added: university research must establish its direct value to society. However, a lingering question is how this third mission should be carried out. While the earliest models focused on the universities operating similarly to an R&D department in a private company – seeking to patent research inventions and then capitalising on intellectual property rights – the focus today is much more nuanced and incorporates both invention- and innovation-oriented activities. This article captures existing knowledge of universities’ third mission activities and identifies five different models of how universities seek to fulfil the third mission. These models are empirically investigated through two multi-level case studies based on insights from universities’ top management, innovation and/or technology transfer offices, and research units within the emerging drone technology area. The findings illustrate how the two universities seek to fulfil the third mission, based on the same starting point but following different models. Moreover, a sixth model is identified, namely the Ecosystem Model, where the universities engage more extensively and with greater responsibility in collaborative efforts with a range of public and private actors on addressing comprehensive industrial and societal challenges through technology development and market insights. In doing so, the university’s role becomes more active in advancing the development of an industry. This emerging way of fulfilling the third mission is discussed with respect to university management and the achievement of societal goals.

摘要

传统上，大学将重点放在两个任务上：教学和研究。在大学仍然履行这些使命的同时，又增加了第三个使命：大学研究必须确立其对社会的直接价值。然而，一个挥之不去的问题是应该如何执行第三次任务。最早的模型关注的是大学，其运作方式类似于一家私营公司的研发部门-申请专利研究发明，然后利用知识产权，但今天的关注点却更加细微，并包含了面向发明和创新的活动。本文介绍了大学第三次任务活动的现有知识，并确定了大学如何实现第三次任务的五种不同模式。这些模型是通过两个多级案例研究进行实证研究的，这些案例基于大学高层管理人员，创新和/或技术转让办公室以及新兴无人机技术领域内研究部门的见解。调查结果说明了两所大学如何基于相同的起点但遵循不同的模式来寻求完成第三项任务。此外，还确定了第六种模式，即生态系统模式，在这种模式下，大学与技术和市场洞察力解决广泛的工业和社会挑战的公共和私人行为者展开更广泛的合作，并承担更大的责任。这样一来，大学在促进产业发展中的作用就变得更加活跃。