“If we focus on the known unknowns, we might lose some capability to identify and respond to things we don’t currently know are problems.” Listen as Lisa and her guest, Jason Owen Smith, discuss his book Research Universities And The Public Good: Discovery for an Uncertain Future, the public values of research universities, how they are funded, and much more on this episode of Tech Transfer IP.

Jason is a Sociologist who examines how complex networks among people and organizations shape knowledge, work, and innovation. Jason is particularly interested in research universities and the dynamics of scientific collaboration networks. Jason is a Co-founder and Executive Director of The Institute for Research on Innovation and Science also known as IRIS. Additionally, he is a Sociology and Research Professor at The Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan.

Listen as Jason defines what a research university in his mind, how they are funded and the shift in research funding he thinks will happen in the future. He speaks about the cost of shutting down and restarting research through a pandemic, and why he believes that universities are a form of social insurance and what makes them important.

Jason also shares what innovation is and how research is conducted at universities that lead to innovations. He believes that universities are a shared platform on which a lot of different people collaborate and compete as they pursue their own intellectual agendas.

Listen as Jason shares what we can do to expand and sustain our universities to act as anchors and hubs, what institutions can do to expand these capabilities. He discusses how universities are helping in response to the Coronavirus. If you want a very interesting and compelling book to read, be sure to get Jason’s book. 

In This Episode:

• [02:39] Welcome to the show, Jason!
• [03:55] Jason shares what led him to research this area and why he wrote his book Research Universities And The Public Good: Discovery for an Uncertain Future.
• [06:02] Jason speaks about his frustration at how we currently talk and think about the public value of research universities.
• [08:31] Jason defines what a research university is to him.
• [11:12] Jason speaks about the funding for research universities.
• [14:23] Jason discusses the shift in research funding and what he sees for the future.
• [16:23] He talks about the cost of shutting down and restarting research through the pandemic.
• [18:20] Jason shares his belief that universities are a form of social insurance and what makes them an important one.
• [21:08] He speaks about the earliest grant he could find for researchers and shares what it was for.
• [24:01] If we focus on the known unknowns, we might lose some capability to identify and respond to things we don’t know are problems.
• [25:36] Jason speaks about what innovation is and how research is conducted at universities that lead to innovations.
• [27:18] Universities are a shared platform on which a lot of different people collaborate and compete as they pursue their own intellectual agenda.
• [30:20] Jason speaks about what innovations have come out of universities.
• [31:12] Jason shares about innovation networks and how they grow.
• [33:24] He discusses that his book was produced by a big network of different types of people. 
• [37:18] Jason shares why he made the state that universities should act as live universities.
• [40:02] Jason believes that universities should create a pool of knowledge and skill, that lots of people can use that.
• [43:13] Jason says in his book that universities function as hubs invoke two things which he explains.
• [47:53] Listen as Jason explains what we can do to expand and sustain our universities to act as these sources, anchors, and hubs.
• [50:24] Jason speaks about things that institutions can do to expand and sustain these capabilities.
• [53:31] Jason shares how universities are helping in response to the Coronavirus.
• [56:12] Thank you for being on the show!

Find Jason:

• Jason Owen Smith
• Email
• Book