Jisc expands university research commercialisation with Digital Science

Jisc has announced a new agreement with Digital Science to help UK universities strengthen their research commercialisation and industry engagement. The arrangement provides higher education institutions with streamlined access to Dimensions Industry Partnerships. This specialist analytics platform allows universities to identify, develop, and manage corporate collaborations more effectively.

The deal represents the first in a planned series of national agreements from Jisc. These initiatives aim to give academic institutions the tools required to track knowledge exchange and intellectual property (IP) activity. Consequently, universities can better demonstrate the real-world economic and societal impact of their scientific research.

Tools to support research commercialisation and impact

The new agreement comes at a time of growing policy focus on research translation across the UK. National initiatives such as the Modern Industrial Strategy, the UK Spin-out Register, and the UKRI Shared TTO Pilot have highlighted the need for efficient commercialisation. As a result, higher education leadership teams are placing research impact at the top of their strategic agendas. Although many universities maintain strong links with corporate partners, relevant intelligence is frequently fragmented across isolated departments and databases.

Dimensions Industry Partnerships addresses this challenge by providing a central source of analytics. The platform enables tech transfer teams and library information leaders to uncover corporate entities already engaging with institutional output. Furthermore, it helps universities benchmark their commercial strengths against peer institutions.

Streamlining procurement for academic institutions

Anna Vernon, Head of Research Licensing at Jisc, emphasised the importance of accessible intelligence for UK institutions. She noted that research commercialisation is a growing priority for universities aiming to maximise their societal impact. Vernon explained that the agreement provides trusted data to uncover new opportunities for collaboration while simplifying procurement through banded sector pricing.

Jonathan Breeze, Executive Vice President of Academic Markets at Digital Science, highlighted the increasing pressure on universities to demonstrate value beyond academia. He stated that making the Dimensions platform available through Jisc offers a practical route for institutions to scale up their commercial relationships.

National access via the Licence Subscriptions Manager

To ensure equal access across the higher education sector, Jisc negotiated banded pricing aligned with institutional size. This structure allows research-intensive universities, smaller institutions, and specialist providers to adopt the technology on equal terms. The subscription is available immediately via Jisc’s Licence Subscriptions Manager. By removing the requirement for individual institutional tenders, the national framework delivers both administrative savings and faster deployment for university knowledge exchange teams.