Linking Universities with SMEs: Do they know what they want from each other?

Abstract

A great deal of the evidence on university-industry links focuses on issues about large firms and university research activities. This paper departs from this line of analysis. It explores the links between SMEs and universities based initially on third-stream activities. We examine the links between the University of Brighton and SMEs from the perspective of the Profit through Networks programme (ProfitNet). Based on quantitative and qualitative data, our analyses focus on industry-side factors influencing university-industry links. We find differences among the sub-groups forming the concept of SMEs.