TECHNOLOGY-TRANSFER AND COLLABORATION BETWEEN INDUSTRY AND NATIONAL LABORATORIES

A central question in the management of public-sector research facilit ies is how to develop relationships with private firms that will suppo rt the codevelopment, transfer, and commercialization of technologies developed within these public research laboratories. One of the most w idely used vehicles for technology collaboration between US national l aboratories and private firms is the Cooperative Research and Developm ent Agreement, or CRADA. A series of five case studies of CRADAs betwe en private firms and a Department of Energy nuclear weapons laboratory , Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, discusses the factors that f acilitate or impair effective technology transfer and collaboration.