Suggestions for university-industry collaborations

Nowadays, when the status of developed welfare states is examined we see that the common feature of almost all is that they are substantially advanced in technology outputs and marketing them. Stunning and extraordinary developments globally in science and technology have practically eliminated the boundaries between countries and as a result of globalization the world has become a great but difficult market for everyone. Close follow up of scientific developments and their conversion to production is inevitable for all businesses today to survive and grow powerfully in this race. For companies, producing their own technology and branding have become the way of being persistent in the global economy. This situation obligates the companies and enterprises to establish a close dialogue, interaction and collaboration with the universities which are the most important centers generating information and scientific studies. As this applies for small and medium-sized businesses, it is also a necessary for the businesses with R&D units having a large number of R&D employees. While this collaboration provides current information transfer to businesses, it will pave the way of transformation into products of the information produced in universities for benefit and welfare of the people with high value added who will contribute to the development of the countries. University-industry collaboration which has been discussed for years not only in our country but all over the world, undoubtedly, is not an easy process to build and requires a hard work. The main reason of this fact is the differences in the priorities, expectations and visions of the parties. However, globalization affects the universities as it does everyone in the world and gives a rise to the expectations other than quality education in the universities. Today, it is expected that the universities should play a leading role in their city and even in the region in terms of social, cultural and even commercial development as a locomotive. In this study, university-industry collaborations are discussed in general and after the emphasis of their importance, some useful suggestions which may be useful for the implementation of university-industry collaborations are presented within an academic perspective.