Don Stahly, a UI professor emeritus of microbiology, said he agrees that pressure to get grants can affect professors. There's always that temptation to spend more time on your own research than instruction. As competition and pressure to get corporate contracts continue to mount, Kelly said, it is important to look at the goals of the corporation before hastily signing a contract. Some are, of course, and that's where you have to be careful. Universities are not the only ones seeking the partnerships.
Corporations also receive reciprocal benefits from signing contracts with universities.
Because of the discounted research universities can conduct, many times a company will pay a public university only a fraction of what it would cost to do its own research, a growing number of corporations are funding research at universities nationwide. Students and faculty ought to be able to interact and go about the process of education without even the potential of interference from outside sources. We might not have the staff or budget to do the research otherwis e, and we can do it externally cheaper at universities. The corporations must give the UI enough money for the research as well as a cost for upkeep of facilities, Skorton said. The Bayh-Dole Act is not the only reason for the drastic increase in corporate grants.