For 2004-5, Oxford got a total funding of £264 million (Bt17.4 billion) for research, the biggest portion of which came from charity organisations and research councils in the UK, whose government also contributed around £16 million.

The Oxford model has the following ingredients: a rich portfolio of wholly owned intellectual property rights (IPRs) with a strong research base and diverse sponsorships totalling around 700 at present.

In addition, the university has a clear IPR policy and has invested substantially in research support and technology transfer.

While the university claims ownership of all employees' and students' intellectual property resulting from its research activities, it is happy to help any scientist or researcher to commercialise their work via patenting, licences and spin-out companies and offering consultancy. As a result, the researchers are entitled to a share of the benefits such as royalties from licences, equity in spin-out firms and income from personal consultancy.

For 2006 the university alone has invested £1.2 million in ISIS, which has 784 projects under way. ISIS has 57 filed patents, plus 45 issued licenses, 59 consultancy jobs and six spin-out companies.

Among the recent licences are ones for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis, TB diagnosis and human embryonic stem cells.

Since 1959 several Oxford spin-out companies have been listed on the London Stock Exchange and alternative investment market with market capitalisation totalling £1.26 billion as of April 2006.

Among these spin-outs are Oxford Instruments, Oxford Lasers, Oxford Glycosciences, Oxford Molecular (drug design), Powderject (drug delivery), Oxford Gene Technology (gene chips), Oxford Biomedica (gene therapy) and Oxagen (genetics).

Among other fields, spin-out companies set up since 1998 have been involved in information technology, neurodegeneration, antibiotics, pharmaceuticals, nanotechnology, image analysis, bio-sensors, immunology, medical software, GPS tracking, digital archaeology, animation software, cancer drugs, artificial silk, metabolism and stress diagnosis.

To date, total external investment in these firms amounts to £226 million, including £28 million from the so-called "business angels" and £198 million from venture-capital funds.

In terms of equity-sharing, all academics relevant to the success of these firms (not only those with their names on the patent) are entitled to a share, as are the university, investors and managers.

Academics and the university get similar amounts of equity, while investors get what they have negotiated for, and managers usually get a share of 5-15 per cent.

In 1999 the university also started a seed fund of £4 million. This resulted in equity stakes in 21 spin-out companies, four licensing deals and 35 other ongoing projects.

These spin-outs have meanwhile attracted a total of £40 million in investment from venture-capital funds.

In order to make the linkage between academia and the private sector successful on a sustainable basis, the university has had to adopt an entrepreneurial culture, constantly build its technology-transfer resources and develop a professional local environment.

While all these drivers must proceed together, the university must take the lead for change, because the ideas are indigenous to the university, and if it doesn't lead the change, it may not receive its due benefits from the commercialisation of research.

Despite its ancient roots, being founded some 750 years ago, Oxford is still at the cutting edge of modern technology.

Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

 nop1122@yahoo.com