The benefits of working with us

3 minute read

A group of people meeting with Aboriginal elders as part of Pandemic 2018 Bryony Jackson

When you partner with the University of Melbourne, you’ll access world-renowned experts, the latest research, and technologies and infrastructure. And your real-world experience, knowledge and resources will bring great value to our researchers. Together, we will solve your most pressing challenges.

Why work with us?

When you work with us, you will:

Work in an open and collaborative environment

As a public institution, we’re motivated to work with our partners to bring a benefit to society. To do this, we work with organisations whose strategic objectives are aligned with our own. A combined passion and quest for discovery drives us both to push boundaries and further our knowledge.

We are committed to long-term partnerships that are based on trust, openness and shared goals. This long-term view enables a valuable cycle of planning, research, implementation and measurement of success.

Engage in deep thinking and discovery

The University of Melbourne is a place apart from your everyday work environment. It’s a place where people convene to think deeply about complex issues. And to solve big problems.

The breadth of our research fields means that you can access expertise across many disciplines. We can assemble an interdisciplinary group of experts to tackle your problem from different angles.

Whether you’re working in health, engineering, business or the arts, you’ll access our leading industry precincts. These innovation precincts bring together the very best minds, technology and resources in the one location. You’ll work side-by-side with like-minded people who are solving big challenges.

Leverage our strong reputation

Since the University’s foundation in 1853, we’ve made a significant contribution to life in Australia and globally, through research, teaching and community engagement. Over the years we’ve built strong capabilities in all three areas. And we’ve established close relationships with cultural institutions, government, industry, not-for-profits and social organisations.

We have a proud track record for intellectual rigour and robust research methods. We’re a top-ranked University that understands the importance of a powerful brand and a strong reputation. This means we conduct ourselves with the highest commitment to ethics and integrity, and confidentiality. We won’t risk our own reputation, and we won’t risk yours.

Recruit highly skilled talent

When you work with us, you’ll tap into a diverse and extraordinary pool of talent – your future workforce. You’ll have the opportunity to recruit high-quality undergraduates, graduate researchers and post-doctoral students.

Access a large community

The University of Melbourne is a large community with more than 400,000 alumni, 80,000 students and 8,000 staff.

As a partner, there are opportunities to:

  • attend public lectures and networking events
  • provide mentoring services
  • connect with people across multiple generations, with a diverse range of careers and interests.

What's it like to work with us?

We are pragmatic and approachable when it comes to working with our partners.

We know it can be daunting when you’re trying to navigate a big university. We also know that your research objectives are pressing. You need to keep moving forward, and not be hampered by administrative processes.

So, we’ve taken steps to try and make it as easy as possible to work with us.

A relationship manager will work with you

They will:

  • be your main contact
  • understand your requirements, goals and deadlines
  • indicate the investment required
  • help you determine the right resources for your project
  • connect you with the best researchers to help achieve your goals
  • communicate with you frequently, both formally and informally.

Your agreement will be pragmatic and flexible

Our contracts team has extensive business and legal experience. This means we are commercially sophisticated, we speak your language, and we understand your priorities. We will make the negotiation process as smooth and fast as possible.

Your agreement will outline the nature of the partnership, with details about:

  • your dedicated relationship manager
  • your Executive Governance Group, which typically meets once or twice each year
  • high level principles and strategic objectives
  • the communication process between the parties, as well as communication with external audiences
  • intellectual property (IP).

And if/when new discrete projects arise within the engagement, it’s easy. Having already agreed the contractual terms of the partnership, each new project will simply require a brief agreement with tailored terms of reference.

We’re helping our researchers work with you

Your relationship manager is your link between the ‘real world’ and the academic world. But we go a step further. We have researchers who are passionate about delivering real-world impact. And so, we’ve created the Translating Research at Melbourne (TRAM) programs.

These accelerator programs help our researchers to think like entrepreneurs and to engage with industry. This means they can maximise the commercial impact of research-based projects. And they can use these skills to make a difference to your organisation .

Next steps

The University’s Business Development Directors assist organisations looking to work more closely with the University.

With senior industry experience, our Business Development Directors understand the expectations of businesses and organisations, and the University’s partnering and commercialisation processes.

If you have a general question about working with us, or about which Business Development Director can best work with you, get in touch.


Email industry enquiries

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