The collaboration between academia and industry has always been a hot topic among the research community. Due to the rapid transformations in business models and the interest from academia in applying their innovative research to “industrially relevant” problems, the topic is probably now hotter than ever. In my short experience as a researcher and through the opportunities I had to interchange opinions with other researchers (both from industry and academia), I can say that the vast majority of the research community acknowledges the inevitable necessity for this collaboration. Nevertheless, most of them consider also that we are still far away from excelling in this collaboration.
On the other hand, governments must become the main vehicle driving this collaboration. They must identify key areas where this collaboration can lead to industrial benefits and scientific innovation, and propel them through public funding, which will lead to economic and scientific growth.
The AdMoRe project, funded by the Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions from the European Union, is a great example of this collaboration. The project offers to eight PhD students (myself included) the possibility to develop their research in an international environment including both academic and industrial agents. Each of the students works directly with at least one industrial and two academic partners, often placed in different countries. This gives us the great opportunity to learn the best from both areas and to get an international experience which will be of enormous value to our future.
In my personal experience, the 18 months I have been carrying out my research with Siemens Healthineers, Swansea University and Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya have led me to a great growth at both professional and personal level. I would like to finish therefore thanking the European Union and all the entities that make this project possible.