The program helps UConn researchers pivot to industry partnerships to offset funding challenges
UConn's Office of the Vice President for Research has launched a pilot program to help faculty members seek industry funding. Contributed photo.
The U.S. academic research landscape is facing a major shift. Federal funding, historically the primary source of support for university research, is experiencing unprecedented instability, with budget cuts and grant cancellations by funding agencies like the National Institutes for Health and National Science Foundation.
Last year, the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) responded by deploying task forces to discuss strategies for diversifying revenue streams for UConn research programs. Central to these meetings were discussions of ways in which faculty could engage with businesses for sponsored research.
The task forces concluded that UConn faculty have a genuine interest in pursuing industry-funded research but need training and guidance to help. Results from a University-wide poll helped influence the conclusion.
As a result, UConn created the "Business Development for Individual Faculty Researchers" (BD-IFR) program. This multimodal instructional program combines classroom-style learning with skill-based professional development and personalized matchmaking.
The BD-IFR is a three-way collaborative effort, organized by OVPR Research Development Services Senior Specialist Anna Gault Galjan, OVPR, UConn Tech Park Business Development Manager Michael DiDonato, and molecular and cell biology Professor Nathan Alder. The program is designed to help UConn faculty identify established companies whose products or services align with their own research and to ultimately help them form partnerships to conduct sponsored work.
"The intent of the program is to assist faculty researchers to diversify their funding base," says Gault Galjan. "But it is also to reassure faculty that industry collaborations don't force anyone to compromise their science, research rigor, or methodologies. Our program provides faculty with the training, support, and hopefully the confidence to make those initial connections."
The program is currently being launched as a pilot with 11 faculty members from the Molecular and Cell Biology Department. The faculty participants vary widely in metrics such as career stage and degree of familiarity with industry partnerships, representing a good cross-section of UConn faculty.
The underpinning pedagogy of the BD-IFR program is based on the business funnel – a foundational framework that maps the multi-stage journey from business partner engagement and relationship building to contract negotiations and project execution. The in-class, workshop-style portions emphasize key concepts in business development, strategies for identifying and contacting potential industry partners, and navigating the complex path to landing a contract.
The program also clearly outlines the required documents that must be prepared and signed at each step of the business funnel. Equally important, it highlights UConn resources, including those at Sponsored Program Services and Technology Commercialization Services, that are available to faculty throughout their industry partnership journey.
Through individualized mentorship, BD-IFR program participants are guided in developing materials necessary for industry engagement. These include value propositions that target specific companies, and a one-page description of a researcher's portfolio that serves as a high-level, business-facing curriculum vitae.
An innovative component of the program is an AI-based matchmaking tool, NexusAI, designed by BD-IFR co-organizer DiDonato. This algorithm takes input describing a faculty member's research and uses it to identify local businesses that are likely to be good fits for collaboration.
"Identifying the right company for a faculty partnership is a challenge," says DiDonato. "It's not solely alignment of research and commercial product - it's about funding availability, shared culture and values, and ease of engagement. We must leverage every resource we have to facilitate introductions between faculty and industry innovators. NexusAI helps us do just that by rapidly assessing regional companies and building candidate lists for review. This is one tool of many that will help UConn dramatically expand its industry research, bringing more funding to UConn and ultimately translating more research into real-world solutions."
Neag School of Education Professor Bianca Montrosse-Moorhead advised a pilot program evaluation for the BD-FR launch. An expert in evaluation, Montresse-Moorhead is supported by graduate student Tahirah David, a Harriott Fellow. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative metrics, including feedback from the pilot participants, the evaluation will be invaluable in identifying success and areas for improvement as the program develops.
"The skills required to secure federal grants and conduct government-sponsored work, like identifying problems, conveying significance, and delivering results, are directly transferable to industry-sponsored research," says BD-IFR co-organizer Alder. "This program shows faculty that making the pivot from federally funded to business-funded research isn't as daunting as they might think."
The pilot has now completed three in-person workshops, and the project is assisting the participants as they enter the business funnel to engage companies. As this pilot nears completion, the BD-IFR organizers are evaluating the program's implementation and effectiveness to inform efforts to implement the program in other colleges and departments across UConn.
The BD-IFR has received helpful input from across UConn. Contributors include OVPR's Research Development Services, Technology Commercialization Services, the Tech Park, UConn Foundation, and the Neag School of Education.
