The Research–Industry Collaboration Roadmap
Turn academic research into real-world impact—through structured, high-trust partnerships.
What This Roadmap Helps You Achieve
This roadmap helps research teams and industry partners design effective collaborations that move beyond paperwork into aligned, productive, and strategically valuable outcomes. It guides you from initial readiness and IP alignment through to implementation, monitoring, and commercialization.
By completing this roadmap, you will:
✔ Evaluate whether your institution or company is ready for external collaboration
✔ Align early on IP rights, confidentiality, and publication expectations
✔ Design joint work plans with clear tasks, milestones, and governance
✔ Monitor progress collaboratively and adapt to challenges in real time
✔ Use TRL (Technology Readiness Levels) to map and accelerate the path to commercialization
Why It Matters
Collaboration between research and industry often breaks down—not due to lack of intent, but due to misalignment on process, pace, IP, or priorities. This roadmap gives both sides a common structure to ensure clarity, reduce risk, and co-create real-world value.
Who It’s For
Academic research teams seeking industry partnerships
Industry R&D units looking to co-develop or license technology
Technology transfer offices and research managers
Public–private consortia and EU-funded research projects
Innovation agencies and regional development bodies
What’s Inside The Research–Industry Collaboration Roadmap
This roadmap provides five critical frameworks designed to move research–industry collaborations from initial conversations to successful joint execution and real-world impact. Each step focuses on creating mutual clarity, minimizing friction, and building the right foundation to scale.
| Step | Framework |
|---|---|
| Step 1: Evaluate whether both partners—research and industry—are organizationally and strategically ready to collaborate. | F041: Collaboration Readiness Assessment |
| Step 2: Define intellectual property rights, confidentiality agreements, and publication expectations from day one. | F042: Joint IP & Publication Protocols |
| Step 3: Develop a joint work plan that clearly outlines tasks, responsibilities, milestones, and decision-making processes. | F043: Joint Work Plan & Governance |
| Step 4: Set up monitoring tools, adaptive review structures, and response mechanisms to track progress and adapt collaboratively. | F044: Monitoring, Review & Adaptation |
| Step 5: Use the TRL (Technology Readiness Level) model to define your current stage, identify gaps, and build a roadmap toward real-world commercialization. | F045: TRL-Based Commercialization Pathway |