Research and Consultancy Guidelines

This provides a brief overview of the broad differences between consultancy activity and research. It is designed as a basic guide. Should you require further information, please contact either the Office of Research Services or the Office of Business Development.

• Research
• Consultancy
• Commercialisation
• Annual Reporting on Research Activity

Research

Research involves a creative program of systematic investigation. All research involves potential innovation and risk. With research, it is not possible to predict whether a given objective can be achieved. An essential characteristic of research is that it leads to publicly verifiable outcomes that are open to peer appraisal. At a broad level, there are two categories of research activity - Sponsored Research and Contract Research which are elaborated below. 

» DEST formal definition of research (PDF, 11Kb).

Sponsored Research
Sponsored research is frequently initiated by a research application. Funds are often provided on a highly competitive basis by government agencies such as the Australian Research Council (ARC), the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) etc. Historically, such research activity has generally not been concerned with commercial outcomes but with the advance of knowledge. Increasingly, however, government agencies are keen to ensure the protection and development of Intellectual Property (IP) arising from such research - see ARC National IP Guidelines (PDF, 21Kb). The ARC Linkage Program is an example of sponsored, collaborative research funded by both the Commonwealth Government and Industry/Sector partners. In this scheme, the Commonwealth seeks to ensure that IP arrangements between the industry partner/s and the University players are negotiated before commencement of the project.

Sponsorship for such research does not normally cover total project costs - the University also contributes its own resource to support such research. The Intellectual Property arising from the research is owned by the University which claims an unfettered right to publish the results of the research. The essential characteristic of such research activity is that it leads to publicly verifiable outcomes that are open to peer appraisal. Sponsored research projects are administered by Office of Research Services. Sponsored research funds can be reported to DEST as part of the annual research income return, which forms an essential component of the Higher Education Research Data Collection (HERDC). Such research activity returns funding to the University through the:

• Institutional Grants Scheme (IGS)
• Research Training Scheme (RTS)
• Research Infrastructure Block Grant (RIBG).

Such income also feeds into the performance based funding that colleges receive through the Resource Allocation Model (RAM). Much sponsored research is difficult to obtain and it is prestigious to do so; gaining an ARC grant is recognition of the esteem and significance of individual researchers and teams. Research Services is actively engaged in assisting staff to gain sponsored research funding. For more information, please contact the Research Development team in the Office of Research Services.

Contract Research
Contract research may arise from a jointly initiated collaborative project between the University and an external agency (industry, government, semi-government body, commercial organisation etc.) or may follow on from a specific request from an external agency for a research project to be undertaken. Contract research has identified aims and objectives as well as project milestones, and often involves commercial outcomes. Like all research, it involves potential innovation and risk.

The contract may arise as a result of a competitive bid, or may follow on from extensive negotiations between the University and an external agency. With contract research, the intellectual property arising from the research is negotiated between the parties on a case by case basis and may depend on:

• the financial and intellectual contributions of the parties
• the existing intellectual property (background intellectual property) brought to the project by each partner.

The external partner will often seek to negotiate the right to commercially exploit the final intellectual property arising from the project, in return for a royalty stream to be paid to the University - see 3 below. Most contract research conducted by UWS operates through Research Services, although Business Development also support staff engaged in contract research. UWS always seeks to ensure the right to publish, in peer review media, the research arising from such collaboration, mindful of any commercialisation or confidentiality constraints.

Contract research funds can be reported to DEST as part of the annual research income return, and thus would return Institutional Grants Scheme (IGS), Research Training Scheme (RTS) and sometimes Research Infrastructure Block Grant (RIBG) funding to the University. Such income also feeds into the performance based funding that Colleges receive through the Resource Allocation Model (RAM). Research Services is actively engaged in assisting staff to gain sponsored research funding. For more information, please contact the Research Development Officers in the Office of Research Services.

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Consultancy

Consultancy involves the purchase by external agencies of (a) the skills and expertise of University staff and/or (b) access to University equipment or facilities to work on a specific project. Consultancy may cover such activities as expert opinion, analysis and testing services, product and process development and can be usefully defined as professional services based on existing knowledge. Consultancy is fully costed and priced and coordinated by the Office of Business Development. Consultancy funds cannot be reported to the Department of Education Science and Training (DEST) as part of the annual external research income return, and thus do not return any Institutional Grants Scheme (IGS) or Research Training Scheme (RTS) funding to the University. In financial management terms, consultancy income cannot operate through a research project account. Such income does, however, provide academic units with income for developmental purposes.

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Commercialisation

The Office of Business Development (OBD) deals with commercialisation matters that arise from all research conducted by UWS staff and students. OBD can guide researchers through the complex activity surrounding effective commercialisation, particularly in protecting any new Intellectual Property (IP) arising from research activity.

The management of IP involves the identification, protection, and commercialisation of IP, which is governed by the University Intellectual Property Policy. Ownership of IP that is produced within the University is determined in accordance with this policy, the contractual conditions of research grants, and the agreements with collaborative partners. UWS believes in rewarding all staff who have produced IP within the University, by including them in the share from the commercialisation of the IP.

Protected IP can be commercialised through assignment or licenses. Assignment refers to the sale of a patent, design, trademark, copyright or trade secret. Licensing is a common form of exploitation for IP such as copyright, patents, plant breeders rights, designs & trademarks. Businesses pay a licensing fee and usually a royalty stream to the University for the right to use, produce and market the IP. Licenses can be negotiated exclusively or non-exclusively; be time limited; and geographically limited. An invention form is available on the Office of Business Development web page for the prompt notification of new IP by UWS staff and students.

For further advice on commercialisation matters, contact the Commercialisation Manager in the Office of Business Development.

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Annual Reporting on Research Activity

All research income received in a calendar year by UWS can be reported to DEST, as part of the Higher Education Research Data Collection. This income return then feeds into the allocation of IGS, RTS and RIBG. For the purpose of the annual external research income return to DEST, the definition of Research and Experimental Development (R&D) is as follows:

'Research and experimental development comprises creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man [sic], culture and society and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications.' [OECD]

Any activity classified as research and experimental development is characterised by originality; it should have investigation as a primary object and should have the potential to produce results that are sufficiently general for humanity's stock of knowledge (theoretical and/or practical) to be recognisably increased.

Research includes:

• pure basis research
• strategic basic research
• applied research
• experimental development.

The processes of the Higher Education Research and Development Collection (HERDC), however, involve many exclusions.

Exclusions
The following are excluded from the DEST annual external research income return:

• preparation for teaching
• scientific and technical information services
• general purpose or routine data collection
• standardisation and routine testing
• feasibility studies (except into research and experimental development projects)
• specialised routine medical care
• the commercial, legal and administrative aspects of patenting, copyright or licensing activity
• routine computer programming, systems work or software maintenance (R&D and expert development in applications software, new programming languages and new operating systems is, however, included).

Certain funding schemes are also excluded, such as the Higher Education Innovation Program, even though they usually involve significant research. Other excluded funding sources cover:

• any funds allocated from the University's operating grant
• Institutional Grants Scheme (IGS) funding
• Research Infrastructure Block Grant (RIBG) funding
• Research Training Scheme (RTS) funding
• Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) funding
• NHMRC equipment grants
• Australian Postgraduate Awards (APA) & International Postgraduate Research Scholarships (IPRS)
• capital grants
• funds managed on behalf of third parties which are not used for research purposes
• in-kind contribution such as AINSE 'credits only' grants
• donations not earmarked for research purposes

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