Effective Industry-Academia Collaboration Driving Polymer Innovation

Polymer science is one of the few fundamental research fields where the results can be transferred into real-life products almost immediately. Industries need collaborations with the best researchers (universities or national laboratories) to elevate the field and favor the development of new materials, which will boost the chemical and materials business economy and ensure that innovative and sustainable polymer products are constantly being brought to the market. The mechanisms to ensure a seamless and fruitful collaboration are numerous, but few approaches really manage to incorporate the full range of polymer research from a molecular understanding to a macroscopic control of properties. We review some of the main components of standard industry-academia collaborations and propose to develop polymer open centers that put the business development objective as the starting point of the collaboration and allow those to gather and focus on different scientific fields toward a common objective.

Automated summary

Polymer science is a fundamental research field that can quickly translate research results into real-life products. Collaborations with top researchers are essential to drive field advancements, ensure the development of new materials, and promote the chemical and materials business economy. It is important to establish seamless collaborations that span from molecular understanding to macroscopic control of properties, and consider the business development objective as a starting point.