A recent survey conducted by Science Link shows that there is a high interest amongst companies in the possibility of accessing RIs in order to improve and develop their products. The same survey also demonstrates a high financial effort by the companies to finance their research for the development of new and better products. These are some of the conclusions.
Interest and requirements from companies
To get a better understanding of the requirements and interest of companies and industry in usage of Research Infrastructure (RI), Science Link has conducted a web-based survey amongst companies in the Baltic Sea Region.
The survey concentrated on:
• The general information on the business line of the companies
• R&D activities, experience with RIs
• The demand to use such facilities
Companies in contact with Science Link’s partners were asked to participate in the survey and 22 companies answered the questions. The largest group was active in the field of Materials Sciences and Nanotechnology (23 %). Chemistry, Life Sciences and Biotechnolgy were the second largest groups (14 % each), and 32 % were active in non-specified fields.
Highest research activity within manufacturing technology
Half of the research activities of these companies were on manufacturing technology (57 %), followed by chemistry (38 %) and biology (24 %). Other strong areas were pharmacy and environment (19 % each). Minor areas were nanotechnology (14 %) and mining and energy (10 %). Unspecific areas were named by another (19 %).
The vast majority (77 %) of companies participating in the survey had their own R&D department.
Own funding the main financial resources for R&D
Financial resources for the R&D activities of the companies were mainly by own funds (57 %) and private funds (29 %). Governmental funds or funds by education were minor (10 % and 5 % respectively).
Another interesting finding was that most of the companies also spend more than 20 % of their investments in product development, which indicates a high potential for innovation.
The role of R&D is highly relevant
Accordingly more than 72 % of these companies classify the role of the R&D activities in their company as highly relevant. Another 23 % as moderately relevant.
Out of the companies with experience in using synchrotron and neutron research the majority consider this research as of high importance (33 %) or moderate importance (44 %) for the development of their products.
The large majority of companies with no experience in synchrotron or neutron research considered possible access to such facilities as helpful for the product development of their company (58 %). Only 10 % denied this possibility
The survey seems to show a high interest of companies in the possibility of accessing RIs in order to improve and develop their products. It also demonstrates the high financial effort by the companies to finance their research, which is directly considered for the development of new and better products.
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