Introducing the Science Next Collaborative
In order to empower the latest generation of scientists to better commercialise their research, Sigma-Aldrich has spearheaded a new initiative that forges a dynamic partnership between industry and academia.
A meeting of minds
Earlier this year, Sigma-Aldrich convened seven of Australia’s top scientists as part of a Think Tank group to focus on a pressing problem in the life sciences industry, and to brainstorm on how they might go about remedying it. Specifically, how could Sigma-Aldrich and academia join forces to better enable Australian scientists, especially early- and mid-career researchers (EMCRs), to successfully translate their research through to commercialisation?
All involved in the initiative agree this is an important concern. “A thorough examination of the Australian scientific research sector uncovered that many researchers are struggling to achieve the final steps in their research continuum: successful commercialisation,” said Reich Webber-Montenegro, Director – Marketing, Inside Sales, and Shared Services, Sigma Aldrich Oceania. “It’s true,” agrees Think Tank member and Macquarie University Professor Mark Baker. “Innovation and commercialisation is a bit like snakes and ladders – ten steps forwards and two steps back.”
Enter Sigma-Aldrich’s Science Next Collaborative (SNC). An Australian first in industry-led initiatives, the SNC brings together leading Australian scientists to facilitate an exchange of knowledge and ideas, and create educational resources and best practice models for commercialisation.
SNC Think Tank member and Associate Professor Derek Richard of Queensland University of Technology, highlighted the initiative’s importance. “It’s so difficult for young researchers to take their discoveries through to commercialisation, possibly due to a lack of experience in intellectual property protection, market research, lodging patents and gaining working capital, which are all fundamental elements in the commercialisation of research,” he said. “So we wanted to look at ways to help change that.”
From research to realisation
The goal of the SNC Think Tank is simple to state but complex to achieve. How could they pool their combined experience to discuss how industry and academia might join forces to better empower EMCRs in navigating the path to secure economic returns for their scientific discoveries?
It was vital to all those involved that something tangible arose out of the SNC and the Think Tank. “No one wanted it to be just a collection of old scientists sitting in a room talking about how things have gone wrong,” said Professor Peter Currie of the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute and Think Tank member. “We had to come up with concrete measures to make the pathway to innovation both in industry and academia easier for our young scientists.”
Since the SNC’s launch, the Think Tank has been focused on producing a joint positioning paper which both captures the current situation and key challenges, and also proposes potential solutions.
For example, just as research funding is in decline, Australian universities and research institutes are producing more EMCRs than there are academic tenure positions available. However, the SNC Positioning Paper suggests one way to manage this issue is by developing programs that train EMCRs in how to better transition their research to have a commercial prospect. It also identified a need to encourage entrepreneurialism in order to move away from the risk-averse culture that currently stifles commercial research output – one way being the adoption of various proposed best-practice models from overseas, currently exemplified by the model of the UK’s Medical Research Council – Technology which works to identify, evaluate and then champion the best up-and-coming research and technology.
Additionally, the SNC positioning paper points out the inherent value in industry-led innovation centres, ongoing partnerships between academia and industry (such as the SNC), and PhD scholarships whereby future EMCRs might spend part of their academic institutional study “embedded” within the fold of a commercial sponsor.
From white paper to way forward
Needless to say, the scientists involved were all enthusiastic about the SNC’s early results. “Being involved in this initiative is critically important,” said Professor Currie. “A partnership between industry and academia is perhaps the only real way we’re going to get consensus about what needs to be done in the innovation sector, and also help involve major stakeholders like government and universities about policies and procedures that could be put in place.”
Professor John Carver of the Australian National University, another Think Tank member, has similar views. “What’s got me really excited about this program is that I think it’s the first time any company in Australia has really put their hand out to academia to try and build bridges, and Sigma-Aldrich is showing great innovation in doing so.”
Assoc. Professor Richard concurs: “If only the Science Next Collaborative had arrived 10-15 years ago in Australia, it would have made a real difference to my own commercial pathway.”
SNC Forums
To build on the discussion and debate raised in the SNC Positioning Paper, and to deliver additional concrete educational activities and resources, a series of Science Next Collaborative Forums will be held in selected cities this year. The Forums will involve the Think Tank members as well as other speakers, who will be invited to showcase new progressive strategies and best-practice models and case studies on how to successfully bridge the gap along the commercialisation continuum.
In the words of Ms Webber-Montenegro, the future looks bright. “By launching the SNC, Sigma-Aldrich is playing a pivotal role in establishing dialogue and relationships across the industry, and we are eager to see its positive impact within the scientific community,” she said. “We’re not only going to be talking about the problem – we will be delivering real tools in order to help the solution come alive.”
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The SNC Think Tank members
Professor Mark Baker
President, Human Proteome Organisation, Professor of Proteomics & Biochemistry, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Macquarie University
Professor John Carver
Director of the Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University
Professor Peter Currie
Deputy Director, Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, Monash University
Professor David James
Professor in the School of Molecular Bioscience, University of Sydney
Associate Professor Derek Richard
Principal Research Fellow Faculty of Health, Biomedical Sciences, Biomedical Sciences Queensland University
Associate Professor Kaylene Simpson
Head of Victorian Centre for Functional Genomics at the Peter MacCallum
Cancer Centre
Professor Deborah White
Member of the Centre for Cancer Biology, the Centre for Personalised Cancer Medicine and a Professor of both Medicine and Paediatrics at the University of Adelaide
Front row (left to right): Reich Webber-Montenegro (Director - Marketing, Inside Sales & Shared Services Oceania, Sigma-Aldrich), Associate Professor Kaylene Simpson (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre)
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