The Disclosure of University Research for Societal Demand: A Non-Market Perspective on the "Third Mission"

In 1998, the UK government introduced wealth creation as a “third mission” for universities in addition to teaching and research, and backed it with £50 million a year (Klein, 2002; Martin & Tang, 2007; Molas-Gallart et al., 2002). The idea of organizing a third mission—in addition to research and higher education—however, is much older, for example, in the case of agricultural universities in Europe, the landgrant universities in the United States (Clark, 1998; Etzkowitz, 2002), and also the museum functions sometimes attributed traditionally to universities, including zoos and botanical gardens. In recent decades, the emphasis on knowledge-based innovation has featured the economic function of the university as focal among the third missions, for example, in terms of technology transfer offices, intellectual property, “valorization” programs, university-industry-government relations, etc. (e.g., Sanchez & Elena, 2006).