Irish university researchers attract least business cash

Irish academics have been branded bottom of the class in a global study of researchers.

Despite the Government’s claims about Ireland’s prowess in knowledge and innovation, the survey shows big business is putting its cash into overseas universities.

In fact, Irish academics attracted the smallest amounts of money from companies for carrying out research, in a league of 30 countries.

The study was carried out by the London-based Times Higher Education magazine head of its World Academic Summit in October, which will discuss the relationship between big business and universities.

It found that university researchers in South Korea, ranked first in the world for attracting money, get on average €75,000 each for carrying out work for a company.

In second place Singapore academics attract an average of €64,000 each, while researchers in the Netherlands, ranked third, can expect €55,000.

At the very bottom of the league, Irish academics get an average of just over €6,000 from big business, meaning researchers here are valued as much as 10 times less than top-ranking countries.

Britain also fared badly in the survey, coming in fourth from bottom at 26th, while the US was 14th.

The Times Higher Education magazine said universities were increasingly looking to business for money to survive during austerity.

“Working with business and industry to move their discoveries and ideas from the ivory towers into the real world — and to make a real social and economic impact — has become one of the most important functions of a modern university,” said a spokesman.

“For some, an ability to attract funding from big business could even be a case of sink or swim in this age of austerity,” the spokesman added.

The study measured the research income that hundreds of world-class institutions across the globe are receiving from industry. But it threw up differences when compared to the Times Higher Education’s list of the world’s best universities.