2003: Addressing Grand Challenges Through the Entrepreneurial Capabilities of Commercialization Postdocs (21190)

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Drawing on the triple helix model, which views the entrepreneurial university as the leading actor in a knowledge-based society, this study uncovers micro-level aspects of the knowledge transfer process linking academic science to industry through the mechanism of commercialization postdoctoral fellowships. We provide primary and secondary evidence from six commercialization-focussed STEM postdoctoral training programs across the US, Canada, and the UK, and analyze these case studies to reveal five key themes. Further interviews (50 in total) and a research workshop elucidate salient features of commercialization-focussed STEM postdoctoral training and funding to address grand challenges from the commercialization of university research. All the commercialization postdoctoral programs examined focused on a venture-founder path, and some program components hindered the development of solutions to grand challenges. Beyond the venture path, we provide evidence on the value of two alternative pathways for science commercialization, both of which greatly enhance academic engagement. An industry champions’ pathway, which guides postdoctoral fellows to rapidly translate academic inventions through roles in established firms and provides science innovation “receptor capacity” in industry. Additionally, a longer-term translational scientists’ pathway shapes the perspective of academic scientists in universities who can co-found multiple science-based ventures through their academic labs across their career.

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