In his recent Forbes article, David Rosowsky explores how research universities are entering a “looking glass” moment: facing structural change in how they teach, how they research, and how they commercialize.
Forbes
What’s Changing
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- Public funding for research and higher education is under strain, pushing universities to look for alternative models of sustainability and impact.
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- Universities are increasingly expected to deliver economic, social and innovation outcomes not just generate papers or train students.
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- Innovation programs like gap funding, on-campus accelerators, translational platforms are becoming more integral to a university’s mission.
Why This Matters for GAP and Commercialization
For institutions running gap-fund and accelerator programs, these dynamics are meaningful. With universities under pressure to demonstrate translational value and external partnerships, GAP programs may be elevated in priority—but must also raise their rigor.
Three Practical Takeaways
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- Universities should assess whether their GAP, proof-of-concept and commercialization programs are aligned with emerging institutional mandates.
- Early-stage investors and corporates should map their university pipelines differently: the “research university” of yesterday may look very different in five years.
- Collaboration between universities, corporates, philanthropies and investors will be more important than ever: speed, clarity of pathway and translational validation will become table stakes.
At Innovosource, our experience helping universities design, benchmark and scale GAP programs positions us to support this transition. As the research-university landscape evolves, institutions and innovation partners that act early may gain a considerable advantage
We can help!
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