Sponsorship

Cost of Research to Industry

In slowing economic times, companies are forced to trim expenses and overhead, often by reducing their workforce, or hiring freezes in R&D. While this may help the company in the short term, the true net effect is that the curtailed R&D by the smaller workforce could cost the company leadership position in its industry in the long term.

On the other hand, the cost of retaining employees can be quite high. Most companies expend significant resources on salaries, medical, dental, and vision benefits, personal time off, paid holidays, education reimbursement, life insurance, and retirement.

According to a recent study, the average employer in the U.S. spends 42 percent of payroll for fringe benefits. Given that the starting salary for an entry-level engineer (with a BS) is approximately $40k, the fringe benefits associated with that bring the total cost close to $57k annually. Add to this, that many researchers work in teams, the cost of doing research grows exponentially.

In addition to the personnel cost, companies must also bear the cost of equipment and facilities overhead. The cost of research then extends into the many hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Get More for Your Research Dollars

IMSC offers a way to reduce your cost of R&D while maintaining access to the latest results. At IMSC, we use a cross-disciplinary, long- and short-term research approach to solving multimedia challenges. We offer cutting-edge directed research projects and attendant licensing benefits to partner companies. IMSC also maintains a technology of licensing opportunities for recent research results.

A main advantage to companies utilizing IMSC's industry program is the interaction with a team of experienced researchers for a fraction of the cost that companies would have to maintain to retain employees of the same caliber.

In addition, companies get to work with top graduate and post-graduate students that excel in their chosen field of study. Many of these students are available for summer internships with partner companies and many go on to become employees after graduation.

IMSC offers Senior Sponsor memberships at $250,000/year for three years. This includes an immediate paid-up, worldwide license to use intellectual property developed under the sponsorship in Sponsor's field. Sponsor level starts at $100,000 for directed research, and Special Sponsor begins at $50,000 for general research results. Sponsorship can include equipment and/or in-kind services prorated in value by 50 percent.

During this economic downturn with its belt-tightening hiring freezes, it makes sense to make the most of precious research funds by investing in the many ongoing research programs offered at IMSC. Let our team of cross-disciplinary multimedia researchers and students make the most of your research dollars!