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Monotti, Ann L. --- "Commercialization of University Research and Free Diffusion – What does Experience Show Works Best in and for Australia?" [2009] ELECD 443; in Arup, Christopher; van Caenegem, William (eds), "Intellectual Property Policy Reform" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2009)

Book Title: Intellectual Property Policy Reform

Editor(s): Arup, Christopher; van Caenegem, William

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848441637

Section: Chapter 11

Section Title: Commercialization of University Research and Free Diffusion – What does Experience Show Works Best in and for Australia?

Author(s): Monotti, Ann L.

Number of pages: 29

Extract:

11. Commercialization of university
research and free diffusion ­ what
does experience show works best in
and for Australia?
Ann L. Monotti

I. INTRODUCTION
Universities have evolved in a haphazard and organic way. As Eric Ashby
wrote in 1967, `A university is a mechanism for the inheritance of the Western
style of civilization. It preserves, transmits, and enriches learning, and it
undergoes evolution as animals and plants do. Like animals and plants, univer-
sities are products of heredity and environment' (Ashby 1967, p. 417).
Heredity accounts for the core themes in the business of Australian univer-
sities, namely teaching, research and involvement with the community.
However, as Ashby notes, the environment modifies the ways in which we
teach and research and engage with the community. While the fundamental
principles remain, they evolve to meet the challenges of the environment in
which universities choose to operate or find themselves compelled to operate
in order to survive and grow. For instance, solitude and freedom in research
were the essential features of the new idea that Wilhelm von Humbolt
contributed to the foundation of Berlin University in 1810.
While Australian universities have inherited these features, they translate in
a very different manner in 2008 from the understanding of solitude and free-
dom in 1810 (Ashby 1967, p. 419). By way of example, in many areas of
multidisciplinary research that require collaboration, it is not possible nor
desirable for solitude in research, whereas solitary inquiry remains common in
areas of the humanities and law. The ...