Unlocking the (massive) business value of scientific research

A new report highlights the impact of research, with UNSW Science alone adding $2 billion a year to the global economy

The intersection of academia and industry is crucial for innovation and societal progress, with qualitative impacts resonating deeply within society. A new UNSW Sydney report quantifies this impact for the first time, finding that UNSW Science alone contributes $2.2 billion to the global gross domestic product (GDP) each year, including a $350 million annual impact on Australian GDP.

The report, The Economic Contribution of Science at UNSW, is part of the Pact for Impact initiative, an Australia-first collaboration between UNSW Business School and UNSW Science to provide a comprehensive analysis of the economic value generated by scientific research. It found that, based on traditional output measures, UNSW produces more scientific knowledge than any other university, whether in the number of papers, papers in top outlets or citations.

According to report author Richard Holden, Professor of Economics at UNSW Business School, the report aims to highlight the importance of universities in driving fundamental research and innovation, and the $2.2 billion annual figure for UNSW Science (reached using “modern economic theory and a little arithmetic”) is an encouraging first step in that process.

The report is also meant to highlight the importance of adequately funding and supporting universities’ research work to society. As Prof. Holden explained, Australia’s spending on research and development (R&D), which hovers at about 1.5% of GDP, is well below the average of peer economies. In contrast, countries like Korea and Israel that lead in R&D spend more than 4% of their GDP annually.

“It’s completely crucial in funding everything from basic research to translation, and Australia is far behind the pack,” he said. “It’s one of the reasons this government set an aspirational goal of getting that up to about 3% of GDP.”

According to Veena Sahajwalla, Scientia Professor and Founding Director of the UNSW Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) Centre within UNSW Science and one of the 10 researchers profiled in the report for their contributions, the Pact for Impact initiative highlights the contributions of the UNSW Science faculty under the leadership of its Dean, Scientia Professor Sven Rogge.

“Science is often undervalued, yet there are many examples of its importance in society,” she said. “Just think of the Australian innovations like Wi-Fi and our very own Green Steel Polymer Injection Technology. The impact of these scientific inventions is obvious even without the full quantification of the economic, social and environmental benefits.”

Progress through industry partnerships

The focus on the economic contribution of science is part of UNSW Business School’s goal of prioritising “big ideas that address societal challenges”, as its Dean, Professor Frederik Anseel, wrote in the report’s foreword: “We believe that business is the critical link for science to generate future social and economic prosperity. We need business to invest in innovation and translate science into commercial opportunities, to create new products and technology, and attract talent and create jobs," he explained.

Prof. Holden explained that gauging the economic impact of UNSW Science’s research involved quantifying the value of research by looking at “every scientific paper published by anyone at any kind of Australian institution in the last decade.”

“We know, as a matter of theory, that it’s important; we know that Australia does a lot of very important research,” he said. “I like to say that the secret sauce of economics is arithmetic, so it was like, ‘How big is the benefit? Let’s do the math.’” And while the $2.2 billion quantification wasn’t surprising, he said, “it was bigger than one might have thought, and it was certainly encouraging.”

Scott Sisson, a Professor in the School of Mathematics & Statistics at UNSW Science, affirmed that the primary benefit of university partnerships is the fast-tracking and resourcing of scientific research, which will be of the most immediate value to both business and society.

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“From the partners’ perspective, this allows the directing of the broad research agenda of highly skilled national research resources, as well as focusing strategic research efforts on developing industry disruptors or innovative uses of science and technology,” he said. “From the university researchers’ perspective, external partnerships are valuable financial enablers to progress both fundamental and applied research while simultaneously achieving tangible, real-world impact.”

Prof. Sahajwalla agreed that industry partnerships are vital to helping science drive innovation and discovery. “Our research at the UNSW SMaRT Centre has had the greatest impact and benefit by the involvement of our various industry partners along the way,” she said. “For me, research is most effective when it benefits end users, whether that be industry, governments or society in general. Partnerships are crucial along the scientific journey. We start with the fundamental science of discovery, but we need to ensure this leads to real-world impact and outcomes.”

Quantifying scientific value

Prof. Sisson, who is Director of the UNSW Data Science Hub, said the report was “compelling reading” and “reaffirmed many of the things I knew about working in scientific research”, but he said it went beyond that. 

“It’s easy to fall under the misconception that scientists at universities do only ‘academic’ work that has little bearing on the real world,” he said. “The report blasts this thinking out of the window, with UNSW Science alone contributing an estimated $2.2 billion to the national and global economy annually. Of course, there is far more to this than a dollar value, with the report placing clear weight on impact indicators that go beyond the traditional quantitative measures and into far more diverse areas of research impact.”

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According to Prof. Sahajwalla, the multidimensional impact measures highlight the diverse contributions of UNSW scholars while quantifying the tangible benefits of scientific research. However, she also cited a concerning data point from prior UNSW research, which found that more than a quarter of Australian businesses do not invest in scientific research. “We have more work to do to ensure research becomes a greater part of everyday business, and we need to ensure our research areas collaborate more to provide a more holistic approach to industry,” she said.

According to Prof. Sisson, evaluating both qualitative and quantitative impacts contributes to a broader understanding of research partnerships’ true value and how to create, quantify and develop value in future endeavours. “Quantitatively, there needs to be a clear understanding of the economic, commercialisation and business value of scientific research when talking to government and industry leaders,” he said.

“Simply put, scientific partnerships with universities can be highly profitable, and universities are major contributors to the national economy,” he added. “But there is also more to scientific research than academic rigour and a number on the balance sheet: there is also the more difficult-to-measure value in lives changed, policy and influence, and supporting global social and developmental goals.”

Research and real-world impact

Prof. Sisson said the theme of fundamental discovery science leading to real-world impact and value is apparent in the report’s researcher impact profiles. “When we think about real-world impact, it can be easy to fall into the trap of just thinking about research translation – taking existing research and applying it to particular problems,” he said.

“The problem here is that the next logical step is the erroneous conclusion that it’s less effort for a business (or government) to cherry-pick research done elsewhere and not focus on their own internal or home-grown research,” he added. “Clearly, there are obvious problems with relying on your competitors to drive your research or business agenda.”

He gave the example of artificial intelligence (AI), where large sums of money are being spent on the use and translation of this technology in scientific research and business models. “A valid question is whether Australia or Australian businesses are spending equivalent sums on developing in-house, local research capability in AI. Or should we be happy to simply become consumers of AI research and products developed by others?” he asked.

It’s also as important to support fundamental discovery science as it is to support practical translation, Prof. Sisson added, noting that “the former drives the latter”.

“Universities have typically managed this balance well, though with current sector trends favouring a stronger emphasis on research translation, there is a danger that the competitive advantage of Australia’s local research expertise can be eroded,” he said. “While this can be mitigated by university and government direct investment into fundamental scientific research, there is a clear role for industry to play in partnering on the co-creation of fundamental research while also delivering on focused business outcomes.”

Fostering interdisciplinary collaboration

Collaboration across disciplines is vital to tackling complex challenges, as interdisciplinary research partnerships can enhance the relevance of academic work, accelerate innovation and lead to unexpected breakthroughs. 

“By seeing the success that one group has realised on a difficult problem, other groups or businesses in the same area can naturally be inspired to use similar ideas to tackle their own wicked problems,” Prof. Sisson said. These collaborations also drive both applied and translational outcomes, in addition to the fundamental science needed to achieve them.

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“From my own experience in computational statistics, some of my most impactful research has come through collaborative work in the biological sciences,” he said. “Simply translating existing statistical techniques was not enough to solve the problem – we had to go back to basics, develop new algorithms and then come back to solve the original problem.”

“The benefits here were twofold: the blockers to scientific progress in the biological sciences were removed, and the discipline researchers could forge ahead with new discoveries and new avenues of research in computational statistics were identified that could be pursued, which led to further scientific impacts down the line.”

Moreover, interdisciplinary collaboration is sometimes the only way to tackle a challenge, as with problems requiring in-depth knowledge and innovation across different areas of expertise. Prof. Sisson pointed to the team that won the 2024 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for its work on AlphaFold, an AI tool for predicting protein structures.

“This team comprised researchers in chemistry, computational protein design and artificial intelligence,” he said. “This work could not have been achieved without the direct and sustained collaboration of researchers across many disciplines, and the resulting impacts in protein and drug design have been immense.”

Case study: Green Ceramics and Green Steel

Prof. Sahajwalla pointed to the Shoalhaven Green Ceramics MICROfactorie, a partnership amongst the UNSW SMaRT Centre, the Shoalhaven City Council and Kandui Technologies using SMaRT’s patented Green Ceramics technology, as a compelling case study of the real-world impact of UNSW research. Green Ceramics, one of two MICROfactorie technologies developed by the SMaRT Centre and operating commercially, reforms waste textiles, problematic glass and other waste materials into ceramics for the built environment, such as for floors and walls and tabletops/benchtops.

“The Shoalhaven Green Ceramics MICROfactorie is able to find new uses for many tonnes of waste glass, often composite and layered glass, and textiles that either can’t be recycled or reused in some manner that would have gone into landfill or potentially shipped overseas for an uncertain future,” Prof. Sahajwalla explained. “Kandui and the council have created new jobs using the technology and are now extracting a much higher value from the waste they are reforming into highly sought-after ceramics that do not have any of the silicosis concerns and issues of many other natural stone products.”

SMaRT has also developed the versatile Green Steel Polymer Injection Technology for electric arc furnace steelmaking, as part of its suite of technologies designed to help with the global goal of moving towards a circular economy.

“By allowing a diverse range of organisations to participate in research and development work, the collaborative approach between industry and researchers fosters innovation and empowers entities at various skill levels to take ownership of the process,” Prof. Sahajwalla said. “For me, the transformation of waste into valuable feedstock for remanufacturing represents a profound shift – and opportunity – in our approach to resource sustainability, decarbonisation and creating a circular economy.”

The long-term strength of universities

Prof. Holden said he hopes various stakeholders will engage with the report for deeper insight into UNSW scientists’ work. “I hope that when people read it, they’ll say, ‘Wow, these are incredible people working across a whole range of things, from nanoparticles to fisheries. I’m inspired by that; how can I support it, learn from it, use it?’”

Furthermore, that these partnerships are crucial has been an important theme in the recent public conversation about university funding and limits on international student numbers in Australia, Prof. Holden pointed out. “Business support for research is more important than ever,” he said. “I think part of what this report does is just assemble what is already known in one place to show how much of a beneficial, two-way relationship that can be. This isn’t just gift-giving; this is mutually beneficial.

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“Universities are one of the only places left that can invest in fundamental research, ideas for the sake of ideas,” Prof. Holden added. “Great discovery has no roadmap; we don’t know where these things are going to go.”

He pointed to how the US space program was the source of many scientific discoveries, “not just about jet propulsion, but about silicon gels and other materials that were developed to do one particular thing but ended up having countless other very important applications. “Science has a way of doing this, right? Penicillin was discovered by accident; vulcanised rubber was discovered by accidentally spilling sulfuric acid onto rubber, and then suddenly we had rubber tyres that actually worked,” he added.

“There are very few institutions in society that can afford to invest in this stuff and take a long-term approach; businesses find that challenging, and even governments find it challenging. Universities can say, ‘Well, we’re going to be around for the next 400 years, so we can take a long-term view.’”