We are not limited to working with researchers from MIT, and have developed working relationships with researchers from other leading institutions, leveraging our respective assets and capabilities. We expect to continue and expand this type of collaboration to provide our sponsors with the highest impact research. Good question, the difference is not well-understood. In simplest terms, research entails creating new knowledge to unsolved problems. Consulting typically entails applying known solutions and approaches to problems, perhaps reapplying solutions from one industry to another as an example, or from one company situation to similar situations in other companies.
Research projects follow a rigorous methodology to establish validity of findings.
Typically, projects start with an assessment of the current state of knowledge in the public domain, often called a 'Literature Review'. Additional steps often include development of a hypothesis, a taxonomy, data collection, analysis and testing of hypothesis. Within the academic environment and using MIT resources, this typically requires a minimum of 9-12 months for each project, often longer dependent upon the scope and depth of the project.