This unprecedented attempt to draft an agreement to govern various types of industrial sponsorship of university research is an outgrowth of a pilot project involving five federal research agencies and 10 Florida universities. That demonstration project, begun in April 1986, is aimed at freeing scientists from much of the red tape that consumes their time and stifles creative approaches to solving scientific problems.
"This is my personal Holy Grail," said Thomas E. Walsh, director of sponsored research at the University of Florida, of his efforts to find greater numbers of industry sponsors. "At present, 75 percent of all such funds come from the federal government, 12 percent from industry and the rest from state governments and foundations," he said. "But the area of greatest potential growth is industry."
Walsh brings a broad perspective to the issue. He has administered multimillion-dollar research programs for government (the U.S. Air Force) and industry ...
