Consultant - Research Commercialization and Equity Framework

The consultant will develop a policy paper on faculty and university equity for public universities, advise on research commercialization and incubation support, and deliver capacity building sessions at FATA University and Kohat University. The role involves research, stakeholder consultations, policy development, and support for university-level innovation and commercialization frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Prepare an inception workplan covering methodology, timelines, coordination requirements, policy paper structure, consultation approach, delivery plan and expected outputs for both universities.
• Review relevant project documents, university context, HEC ORIC/BIC guidance, available university IP or commercialization policies, and relevant national and international good practices on faculty equity, university equity, revenue sharing, incubation support and research commercialization.
• Lead the development of a policy paper for public universities on Faculty and University Equity, covering equity participation, revenue-sharing options, IP ownership, licensing, conflict-of-interest safeguards, founder/advisor agreements, governance arrangements and reinvestment mechanisms.
• Develop practical options for faculty equity participation based on the faculty member role, including routine teaching or supervision, light advisory support, active mentoring, technical contribution, inventor status, principal researcher role, co-founder role and continuing operational engagement.
• Propose clear principles to protect student ownership of ideas, while allowing fair benefit-sharing where university IP, faculty research, institutional infrastructure, seed funding, endowment fund support or commercialization services are used.
• Advise both universities on the establishment, governance and use of an endowment fund or resource mobilization mechanism to finance incubation centre activities and provide small-scale support for student and faculty ideas, prototypes, validation activities, mentoring and commercialization pathways.
• Conduct consultations with university focal persons, faculty members, students, ORIC/incubation focal points and relevant stakeholders to inform the policy paper, research agenda and endowment fund recommendations.
• Design and deliver structured sessions at FATA University and Kohat University for faculty and students on research, innovation and commercialization covering research culture, ethics, governance, innovation concepts, commercialization pathways, equity models, endowment fund options, grant development, student innovation, equity and inclusion.
• Facilitate interactive exercises with faculty and students including research theme mapping, innovation problem statements, commercialization pathway mapping, equity/revenue-sharing case exercises and peer feedback.
• Support each university in identifying priority research themes and preparing a practical institutional research agenda with short, medium and longer-term action points.
• Advise university focal persons on mechanisms for strengthening research governance, faculty mentoring, student research engagement, IP awareness, industry linkages and monitoring of research outputs.
• Develop simple tools and templates for faculty/university equity decision-making, role classification, conflict-of-interest declaration, incubation support approval, endowment fund utilization, research agenda setting, innovation pipeline tracking and commercialization planning.
• Promote inclusive participation in all sessions, particularly of women, early-career faculty, students from underserved areas and departments with limited research exposure.
• Coordinate with UNODC, university focal persons, other consultants and relevant stakeholders to ensure coherence with the UK Phase II project objectives.
• Develop and administer feedback tools, attendance records and learning assessment formats for the delivered sessions.
• Prepare periodic progress updates and a final consultancy report with annexes, including the final policy paper, session materials, research agenda documents, consultation notes, equity model templates, attendance records, feedback analysis and recommendations for follow-up support.

Requirements

• An advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Engineering, Science, Technology, Education, Public Policy, Higher Education Management, Innovation Management or other related fields is required.
• A first-level university degree in similar fields in combination with two (2) additional years of qualifying work experience, may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A minimum of 2 years of experience in higher education leadership, research governance, institutional development, innovation systems, commercialization, faculty development or related areas is required.
• Experience in designing or advising on university-level benefit-sharing, research commercialization, faculty participation, incubation support, innovation fund or related policy frameworks will be an advantage is desirable.
• Proven experience in designing and delivering capacity building sessions for faculty, students, ORIC teams, research managers or academic leadership on research, innovation and commercialization is desirable.
• Strong understanding of public university systems, equity, inclusion, research ethics, academia-industry linkages, intellectual property awareness and commercialization pathways in Pakistan is desirable.
• Experience in policy-oriented research, strategic advisory work, development of position papers, research roadmaps, frameworks or higher education reform documents is desirable
• Fluency in English (oral and written proficiency and excellent drafting skills) is required.
• Knowledge of other official UN languages is an advantage.
• Fluency in local language (URDU) is required.

Skills

• Research Commercialization
• Equity Framework Development
• Higher Education Leadership
• Research Governance
• Institutional Development
• Innovation Systems
• Faculty Development
• Policy Frameworks
• Capacity Building
• Public University Systems
• Research Ethics
• Academia-Industry Linkages
• Intellectual Property Awareness
• Commercialization Pathways
• Policy-Oriented Research
• Strategic Advisory
• Position Paper Writing
• Research Roadmap Development
• Higher Education Reform
• English Drafting
• Urdu Fluency

Languages

English, Urdu