The business of knowledge

May 2005

How to get a great idea from laboratory to marketplace has plagued many academic minds. Now Monash Commercial is helping researchers negotiate their way through intellectual property laws.

Report: Diane Squires
Photography: Greg Ford and Sharon Walker

For two weeks in February, Monash researcher Peter Ellis battled blizzards as he travelled the Southern Ocean en route to the French Antarctic base at Dumont d'Urville. Travelling on the French resupply vessel l'Astrolabe, Mr Ellis carried a compact nutrient monitoring system, developed to measure alkalinity and phosphate levels in water faster and more precisely than conventional methods.

Developed in Monash's Water Studies Centre by Mr Ellis and Associate Professor Ian McKelvie from the School of Chemistry, the device allows water to be tested on site, rather than samples having to be collected and taken back to the lab for analysis.

As well as increasing the speed with which water can be tested, the device decreases the risk of contamination or deterioration of the samples and enables researchers to measure or 'map' the alkalinity or concentrations of phosphate through the water.

It has been developed in partnership with the Victorian Environmental Protection Authority, using Australian Research Council Linkage funding, and is being taken to the market by Ecotech Pty Ltd.

When Dr McKelvie first had the idea in 2000, he knew the device would have major applications for water testing. But he also knew that getting it to market would require a major effort. He says that without the help of Monash Commercial, the device may never have made it -- at best, it would have progressed slowly.

"I had gone part of the way; I had arranged the partnership with the EPA, but taking it to that next step would have been a big ask," Dr McKelvie says.

"As a full-time academic, the amount of time available to go banging on doors, trying to find interested commercial partners and to negotiate licences is limited. Graham Thurston from Monash Commercial came to see me, and within a few weeks he had identified a company that was interested."

Dr McKelvie's situation is common to many researchers. They can develop great ideas but do not have the time or the commercial knowledge to take them to the marketplace.

Monash Commercial chief executive Mr Jonathan Sanders says universities have an obligation to help researchers commercialise their ideas.

"The government spends a lot of money funding research, and it is entirely correct that the community should expect some kind of return," Mr Sanders says. "Universities have been criticised in the past for not effectively transferring their knowledge to the community. It's fine to have all these innovative ideas, but if you can't get them from the university into the marketplace, what is the point?"

Monash University has had a commercial office since the 1980s, but the current structure of Monash Commercial, with business development managers located in research-intensive faculties, was not established until 2002.

Mr Sanders says the restructuring aimed to better meet the needs of university staff and was based on the structure established at the University of Queensland and the former Monash Institute of Reproduction and Development.

Each business development manager has a commercial or commercial/research background and is supported by a team of patent, legal and management experts. Business development managers help identify projects that may be of commercial value and then work with researchers on commercial management, patent applications, licensing agreements, financial management and internal accounting.

"At Monash Commercial, we have people whose job it is to transfer knowledge and ideas to the community rather than leaving this to the academic, who also has to teach students and undertake research," Mr Sanders says.

There are also financial benefits to the university for being involved in the commercialisation process. While it will never cover the full financial needs of a university, in some overseas institutions technology commercialisation generates up to 7 per cent of the research budget.

But it is not only research staff who can benefit from advice on commercialisation. Dr Elane Zelcer, executive director of the Monash Science Technology Research and Innovation Precinct (STRIP), says it is important that the university also provides commercialisation and intellectual property advice to students.

"Undergraduate and graduate students need to be aware of commercial activities as part of their education and for future options in their careers," she says.

"By learning about technology and commercialisation, students can identify career options. I did a science degree followed by a PhD, but those options weren't obvious to me. We need to be teaching at least some of these skills to students and their supervisors. What's more, the students are beginning to expect this information."

Action: For information on Monash Commercial go to the Monash Commercial website. For information on the STRIP, go to the STRIP website.