Executing the Industry-Academia Linkage

Ever noticed what happens to a properly formatted and hard-bound research theses in the Higher Education Institutions? For sure, they deserve more than adding to the beauty of the library interior, but how can they be? Well, the academicians have been using the term “industry-academia” linkage for so long, but are the higher education institutions actually following it? The phrase “industry academia” itself carries the rigor to be noticed, but it needs execution to be put into practice. Its factual implementation and the outcomes are still a challenge to many, if not to all. The concerned entities in the higher education setup, mainly including QEC departments or Business Incubators, etc., may prefer adjustments on the following lines.

Establishing the Research Labs

HEIs should establish a research cell in their premises that is well-connected with the industry. The objective of this research cell should be to bring the academics, i.e., the professors/ faculty from the respective fields, aiming to provide industry solutions to the problems at hand. They can further add students pursuing their final year projects to be part of these projects. This can help in two ways: 1) The industry problems to be solved primarily, and 2) The students working on real industry projects, which are beyond statistics and earning their grades. Of course, contribution to economic growth could be another constant that ensures the viability of these projects. Continuing with the execution of these research cells, how come the universities are well-connected with the industry? This question can further be dissected as follows:

Reforming MOUS

A memorandum of understanding between universities and organizations is a good thing. Its essence can be manifold if the companies are asked to provide a list of issues they are facing or expected to face in the future to these research cells. The research cells, as per their ability and resources, should take on those issues and enter a formal binding to provide their expert opinion. Given the size of the issue, the research cell can then decide if the following problem can be solved at the undergraduate or postgraduate student level. The timelines can be decided, and if the nature of the industry issue demands higher and comprehensive solutions, these projects can get the funding from the industry, whereas students can get themselves registered as MPhil or PhD scholars pursuing the following problems. Again, the SMEs and short-duration problems can target BBA or other Bachelor studies, whereas problems citing extensive data sets and complex problems can be aimed at higher studies and research degrees. While the rest of the study and thesis defense protocols are to be followed accordingly. Pursuing this, one never knows if students might end up getting a job in those respective companies, if needed or desired by those companies. 

While this may look interesting as well as ideal to a few, some of the top business schools are practicing it similarly, somehow. BI Norwegian Business School and Copenhagen Business School, to name a few, are found to practice this approach and often list the industrial PhD and postdoc opportunities on the university website or through internal dashboards. 

In addition, faculty skills can also be enhanced by engaging them with the industry. Again, something where an MOU might be of help. However, this is something that is already around and on the cards of some renowned business schools, but it is definitely worth practicing for institutions that are yet to adopt it. This might come under the faculty summer placement. Also, this may be reciprocally practiced by inviting the industry experts to guest talks, organizing workshops, or rendering their services as a visiting faculty member. The idea is to garner value from those ventures, so the HEIs become future-ready institutions.

So, seeing the industry convergence and modernity in the education sector, it is high time that HEIs need to uplift themselves and upskill their students and faculty likewise. And that can be fairly possible if industry-academia linkage is practiced in its true spirit.