Controversial rules implemented at Cambridge University giving it ownership of patentable innovations developed in its labs are creating difficulties in recruiting practical computer scientists, says a senior IT professor.
Cambridge academics voted in favour of the university taking ownership of intellectual property in January, prompting criticism from opponents who argued it would stifle innovation. (Computing, 5 January).
Ross Anderson, head of the computer security group at Cambridge’s Computer Lab, says this reduction in opportunities for individuals to patent their own inventions, combined with shortfalls in pay, are making jobs in the private sector increasingly attractive to academics.
‘Good practical academics are becoming really hard to find,’ he said. ‘If we advertise a chair in computer theory we get hundreds of job applications, but for a practical systems chair we are lucky if we get anyone who is suitable and good enough.’
The university is also proposing increases in the fees charged to Cambridge professors who take up consultancy work to supplement their incomes.
‘Business plans reveal that the university wants to take 20 per cent of our consulting income rather than 10 per cent as it does now,’ said Anderson.
‘Currently, typical professors in a practical engineering subject at Cambridge can earn nearly half their salary from consulting. So if this proposal is passed, it could make things even more difficult,’ he said.
Ian Leslie, Cambridge’s pro-vice chancellor for research, says the university needs to modernise to keep up with other academic institutions.
‘Cambridge is trying to take steps that don’t get in the way of academics,’ he said. ‘Some people here think we are trying to impede them, but that is the last thing we want to do.’
Ovum analyst Gary Barnett says practical academic IT research is suffering as staff move from relatively low-paid university jobs towards the better-paid commercial sector.
‘If you want to keep good people in academia, you have to do something to replace the £180,000-odd they lose in terms of income,’ he said.
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