NATIONAL LABORATORIES and UNIVERSITIES
Building New Ways to Work Together
Report of a Workshop
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Los Alamos National Laboratory; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Sandia National Laboratories; University of California, Berkeley; and University of California, Office of the President; and by Contract No. DE-AT01-04ER30319, between the National Academies and the Department of Energy. The views presented in this report are those of the authoring committee and are not necessarily those of the funding agencies.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.
COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL LABORATORIES AND UNIVERSITIES
JEROME H. GROSSMAN (Chair), Senior Fellow,
John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
CHARLETTE GEFFEN, Senior Program Manager,
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
DAN HARTLEY, Vice President for Laboratory Development (retired),
Sandia National Laboratories
JOHN PEOPLES, Director Emeritus,
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
JULIA R. WEERTMAN, Professor Emerita,
Northwestern University
ROBERT J. ZIMMER,
Provost, Brown University
Principal Project Staff
MERRILEA MAYO, Director,
Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable
TONI MARECHAUX, Director,
Board on Manufacturing and Engineering Design
YVETTE WHITE, Senior Research Associate,
Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable
DENISE GREENE, Administrative Coordinator,
Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable
LAURA BROCKWAY,
Intern, Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable
Acknowledgments
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for quality and objectivity. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process.
We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report: William Appleton, Harvard University; Martha Krebs, Science Strategies; Alvin Kwiram, University of Washington; and J.W. Rogers, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the content of the report, nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Alan Schriesheim, Argonne National Laboratory, who was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
Preface
Federal laboratories and the Department of Energy’s (DOE) nine contractor-managed, multiprogram national laboratories, in particular, have a long history of productive collaboration with universities. Traditional collaborative mechanisms have included joint proposals and programs, personnel exchanges, and utilization of laboratory facilities by university researchers. Several national laboratories are managed by universities, while others are managed by partnership organizations with university participation. Many have evolved close links with one or more universities in a range of research areas, often due to geographical proximity. The laboratories play a strong role in education, providing training and research opportunities for students through DOE and other funding sources.
During the 1990s, the role of the national laboratories in the nation’s post-Cold War science and engineering enterprise was scrutinized and reexamined, most notably by a task force chaired by former Motorola Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Robert Galvin. While a consensus emerged that the labs should continue to focus on their core missions, several initiatives were launched to link research at the labs more closely to commercial activity, such as expanded utilization of Cooperative Research and Development Agreements.
Today, several of the laboratories are reexamining their relationships with universities and developing new approaches to collaboration. One example is the joint research institutes, in partnership with the University of Washington and the University of Maryland, launched by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. These institutes, housed at the universities,
provide a number of benefits for each party. However, new approaches to collaboration between the national laboratories and universities bring with them a number of challenges. Included among them are cultural and management differences, as well as differences in procurement rules, human resource policies, and intellectual property policies, which can complicate the process of setting up and running joint research centers.
Numerous workshops and reports by the National Academies and other groups have examined research collaboration between industry and universities. The technology transfer activities of government laboratories have also been studied extensively. However, national laboratory-university ties have not been reviewed from a national perspective.
On July 10-11, 2003, the National Academies held a workshop in Berkeley, California to address best practices and remaining challenges with respect to national laboratory-university collaborations. Managers, scientists, engineers, and other experts in the field were invited to exchange views on how to structure university-laboratory collaborations in order to maximize benefits to their institutions and the U.S. research enterprise. The workshop covered a wide range of collaborative practices, from individual investigator-level collaborations; to joint centers; to laboratory-run, university-populated user facilities. The report that follows is a summary of the views expressed in that workshop.
Jerome Grossman
Chair
