In the context of universities, industry involvement encompasses a range of areas and initiatives designed to connect corporate with the academic community for mutual benefit.
Industry engagement can be modest—just one project or initiative—or it can involve what is referred to as "strategic engagement," in which the university and a corporate partner collaborate on a range of initiatives and projects, including student recruitment, sponsored research, curriculum development, clinical trials, philanthropy, workforce development, and more.
As a research university, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) is always the lynchpin between insights, knowledge, know-how, and innovations to elevate talents’ skills and growth for a sustainable tomorrow.
Currently, USM is increasingly dedicated to forge these connections. This office is seeking to bring in new organisations to participate in university activities like funded research or student internships. They also seek to strengthen existing connections by taking a holistic approach that spans the full "strategic" continuum. The benefits of partnerships between universities and companies can be significant, including access to new innovations, new talent, and more skilled workers in high-priority fields.
The best university-industry partnerships are long-term and bring with them critical funding, highly skilled graduates, better job opportunities, new innovations, and an integration of effort that yields stronger communities, better employees, healthier companies, and universities that better support their faculty and students.
