Call for Participation: Breadth of Partnership in Academia-Industry Relationships

The following CRA-I workshop is organized by Mary Hall, Amit Jain, and Vivek Sarkar.

Collaboration between academia and industry is crucial for driving technological innovation and fostering economic growth. By identifying successful partnership models and a range of effective practices, stakeholders can strengthen these connections to stimulate new ways of engagement between academia and industry. 

In support of this goal, CRA-Industry is hosting a small, 40-person workshop on “Breadth of Practices in Academia-Industry Relationships” in Seattle, WA, on March 20-21, 2025. Scott DeBoer, Executive Vice President of Micron, will be the keynote speaker. The workshop aims to bring together computing research stakeholders from both academia and industry to explore key questions, including:

• Utilizing Industry Resources: How can academia effectively utilize industry resources and expertise to improve research outcomes?
• Shaping Curriculum: How can industry play a more active role in helping universities align curriculum with evolving industry needs and trends?
• Incentivizing Collaboration: What incentives can universities offer faculty and researchers to engage in collaborative projects with industry partners?
• Promoting Entrepreneurship: How can universities better facilitate technology transfer and entrepreneurship to turn academic research into real-world applications?
• Ensuring Equitable Partnerships: What strategies can be implemented to ensure fair distribution of benefits and recognition in academia-industry partnerships?

Participants will engage in meaningful discussions, share best practices, and contribute to the development of a “breadth of practices” document to be shared with the broader computing research community.

How to Participate

• If you are interested in attending, please email Helen Wright (hwright@cra.org) by December 10th. 
• If you are interested in participating as a speaker, please submit a brief paragraph highlighting your involvement with academia/industry partnerships. 

Due to space limitations and the goal of fostering open discussions among a small group, the workshop planning committee will select participants based on the relevance of their submissions to the workshop topics.

As part of our commitment to making this event accessible, CRA-I charges no registration fee to attend. Participants are only responsible for their travel and hotel expenses (a link for discounted hotel rates will be provided during registration). If you have any questions about these policies, please reach out to Helen Wright at hwright@cra.org.

CRA-I and the workshop organizers look forward to your submission!