Harvard to enhance corporate engagement strategy

Harvard is poised to enhance its corporate engagement strategy, grounded in suggestions released last year by two ad hoc committees. These committees discovered that the University could gain from expanding and fortifying corporate engagement aligned with its primary mission and values. Since taking on his position as provost, John Manning has consistently supported this initiative as it progresses toward execution.

The Corporate Relations Research Policy (CRRP) Committee, led by John Shaw, vice provost for research, along with the Corporate Relations Researcher Engagement (CRRE) Committee, chaired by Amy Wagers, head of the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology and the Forst Family Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, initiated a review of the University’s existing policies, practices, and support concerning engagement with corporations. Backed by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research (OVPR), the committees released a collection of recommendations intended to enhance collaboration across the University, explore innovative engagement strategies, and ensure that students and faculty have proper safeguards while engaging in corporate activities.

“As a faculty member, and later as provost, I have seen the various advantages that can arise when academic institutions partner with industry for the greater good,” stated President Alan M. Garber, who assembled the committees in June 2023 while serving as provost. “That’s why I tasked Vice Provost for Research John Shaw to explore how we might facilitate these collaborations, including through the establishment of these committees. Their efforts are enabling Harvard to capitalize on and create opportunities to advance our academic mission and push the boundaries of research, ultimately benefiting the public. I am eager to witness the many ways in which our excellence will thrive as we implement the committees’ suggestions.”

For numerous years, Harvard has interacted with private corporations and associated entities as a means to inform and strengthen its intellectual mission, support scholarship and students, and translate research discoveries for the broader societal benefit. Current instances of corporate engagements consist of:

• Harvard’s partnership with Roche, recently bolstered by the announcement of the Roche Genentech Innovation Center Boston, located at Harvard’s Enterprise Research Campus in Allston.
• The Fujifilm fellowship, initiated in 2019, offers up to two years of research funding to promising Ph.D. students across 14 programs encompassing Harvard Medical School, the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.
• In 2022, Amazon Web Services (AWS) provided both sponsored and philanthropic support to promote fundamental research and innovation in quantum computing, as well as to support the AWS Impact Computing Project at the Harvard Data Science Institute, a collaboration focused on reimagining data science to identify potential solutions for society’s most complex challenges.
• Through the initiatives of the Office of Technology Development (OTD), numerous corporate sponsorships and University-wide research partnerships with firms, including Deerfield Management, Tata Group, and UCB, have contributed to advancing scientific discovery across the University.

The CRRP Committee was assigned the task of evaluating and imagining mechanisms for enhancing corporate engagement in research support. The CRRE Committee was designated with identifying the roles and responsibilities of faculty and other researchers involved in corporate-sponsored research and recommending safeguards to guarantee these relationships align with the University’s mission and benefit all participants. Both committees included representatives from across Harvard’s Schools and central administration and formulated their recommendations with the assistance of input from students and other stakeholders throughout the University, as well as from corporate entities that have established agreements with the University.

“While Harvard has benefited from corporate engagement within various Schools, departments, and centers, the research conducted by CRRP indicated that engagement could be reinforced through a University-wide strategy and approach,” noted Shaw. “Expanding the means we have for facilitating corporate alliances, and further enhancing coordination throughout the University, will enable us to strengthen the methods we use to support research.”

“The CRRE Committee’s examination of corporate engagement from a stakeholder perspective discovered that interest and involvement in corporate partnerships have both grown and evolved in recent years, presenting exciting opportunities for innovative and unique programs beyond the conventional sponsored research agreements and graduate fellowship programs,” explained Wagers. “With the right policies and safeguards in place for our students, faculty, and other researchers, our Harvard community stands to gain significant advantages from increased engagement with corporate partners.”

New executive director and associate vice provost for academic-corporate initiatives to lead steering committee and execution

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One of the primary suggestions from the committees was to create a Corporate Relations Steering Committee, serving as a resource to enhance coordination of corporate engagement activities throughout the University that support research and leverage institutional strengths and capabilities. Conceived as a compact and agile group, composed of faculty members involved in corporate collaboration alongside leaders from OVPR, OTD, and the University Development Office (UDO), the steering committee will:

• Formulate a comprehensive University strategy that explores the wide array of potential engagements, encompassing donations, sponsored research, and innovative agreements;
• Offer direction for intricate corporate partnerships that involve various opportunities within the University, including those that incorporate donations and sponsored research or other elements;
• In cases of complex engagement, facilitate efficiency and support to guarantee prompt and comprehensive review.

Additional recommendations encompassed enhancing training and increasing awareness of policies and procedures, crafting models and frameworks for corporate engagement, establishing a database of current collaborations, and launching pilot programs in prioritized research domains.

To spearhead this initiative, a core operational team of the steering committee has been appointed with leadership from Sam Liss (OTD), Anne Gotfredson (UDO), and Steven Currall (OVPR), who commenced on June 16 as the new executive director and associate vice provost for academic-corporate endeavors. Currall has acted as a special adviser to both committees, offering advisory assistance, data gathering and analysis, and benchmarking. He currently serves as a research associate at the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Before joining Harvard, Currall was the dean of the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Davis; provost and vice president for academic affairs at Southern Methodist University; and president of the University of South Florida. He previously held the role of commissioner with the U.S. Council on Competitiveness, which consists of university and corporate leaders dedicated to enhancing America’s investments in innovation, technology, and infrastructure. His work has been published in Nature, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Reviews Bioengineering, Issues in Science and Technology, as well as in leading management publications such as Organization Science.

“There are abundant opportunities for Harvard to strategically engage with corporate entities throughout the University in ways that align with our academic mission and enhance our capability to benefit society,” stated Currall. “During our research for the committees, we heard from corporations eager to make a positive difference in the world and seeking to foster a relationship with a university that shares that ambition.”

OVPR, collaborating with OTD, will initiate this new endeavor with a series of workshops this summer designed to assist faculty in advancing their research through corporate engagement. These workshops will clarify current policies and mechanisms for corporate involvement and begin exploring opportunities for strategic collaboration across the University.

“Corporate partnerships are essential in pushing forward Harvard’s research initiatives and innovation,” commented Vivian Berlin, executive director at Harvard Medical School and managing director of strategic partnerships at OTD. “At OTD, we are excited to continue supporting Harvard researchers across the University to enhance engagement with our corporate and venture partners.”

Following the workshops, one of the initial actions the steering committee will undertake will be to identify and support forward-thinking pilot projects, as outlined in the reports’ recommendations. These initiatives will promote connections between faculty-led research projects across Schools, enabling Harvard to proactively identify and pursue opportunities for investment and direct engagement from corporate entities. A call for faculty submissions is on the horizon.

“More extensive and improved integration with corporate partners is crucial for swiftly advancing our discoveries into therapies that can assist patients in need,” remarked Mark Namchuk, Puja and Samir Kaul Professor of the Practice of Biomedical Innovation and Translation and executive director of therapeutics translation. “This new initiative will enable faculty throughout the University to propel their research forward and magnify its societal impact.”

Further details can be accessed on the Harvard Corporate Engagement website.