Firms’ Research Collaboration with University Star Scientist: Antecedents and Conditions for Success

The research of her PhD explores the role of university star scientists, i.e. leading contributors to scientific research in their domain , as firms’ key partners in basic research. Her aim is to provide insights into the antecedents of these star-firm collaborations and the conditions under which they can enhance the innovative performance of firms. First,she seeks to explain why certain firms collaborate with university stars, while others do not. Second, the conditions under which star-firm collaboration improve firms’ innovative performance will be explored. Here she planes to test hypotheses on the star’s extended involvement in joint applied research following basic research collaboration, the role of exclusive access to the academic star, and the benefit of building ‘strong ties’ with stars through repeated collaboration. Third, she will investigate different company structures, with a focus on their internal organization,  and their effect on collaboration benefits. In particular, she will analyze the required capabilities of gatekeepers: in-house corporate scientists responsible for the interaction with the academicstar. Furthermore, she will compare the relative importance of ‘deep science skills’ matching those of the star, versus complementary competences in applied research, and the role of the gatekeepers’ network in the firm. Empirically, she analyzes panel data on the scientific publications, patent applications and corporate accounts of a comprehensive set of R&D intensive firms in the life sciences and ICT.