Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research

SCOPR®, the Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research, is conducted annually by Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia (KCA), the peak body representing technology transfer professionals and their organisations in Australia and New Zealand. Through its members, KCA has led best practice in industry engagement, technology transfer and entrepreneurship for research organisations since 1978. Conducting SCOPR is a core activity of KCA, and it is offered to members and non-members alike as a part of our contribution to enhancing the visibility and success of research commercialisation in Australia and New Zealand

In the past 5 years publicly funded research organisations in Australia and New Zealand have achieved AU$1.6B in commercialisation deals with 266 new companies created in Australia and 68 new companies created in New Zealand.

Those numbers from KCA’s SCOPR® 2022, the Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research from 64 participating universities and research institutes in Australia and New Zealand show success in the commercialisation of publicly funded research, achieving positive impact in society in a wide range of technologies from life sciences through to MedTech, IT and engineering solutions.
SCOPR® is conducted every year by Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia (KCA) to collect and analyse the data from Australian and New Zealand universities and research organisations. We thank and acknowledge the efforts of gemaker who KCA engaged to conduct the survey and deliver the report.

In 2023, KCA entered into a strategic partnership with the Australian Government Department of Education with the aims of improving response rates for SCOPR® and achieving enhancements to survey questions. As part of this partnership, a joint workshop was held with organisations including AAMRI, NHMRC, ARC, Universities Australia and the Department of Industry, Science and Resources.
Participation in SCOPR® is voluntary, and the metrics are supplied on a self-reporting basis. In 2022, 64 Australian and New Zealand research organisations participated, an increase of 31% on last year’s participation..


For more information regarding SCOPR, please email scopr@techtransfer.org.au


11/10/2023 – SCOPR™ 2022 Public Research Powers ahead on Commercialisation

In the past 5 years publicly funded research organisations in Australia and New Zealand have achieved AU$1.6B in commercialisation deals with 266 new companies created in Australia and 68 new companies created in New Zealand.

Those numbers from KCA’s SCOPR™ 2022, the Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research from 64 participating universities and research institutes in Australia and New Zealand show success in the commercialisation of publicly funded research, achieving positive impact in society in a wide range of technologies from life sciences through to MedTech, IT and engineering solutions.
The 2022 Report for this year highlights:

  • New Companies Created – 49 in Australia and 18 in New Zealand
  • Commercialisation Income – AU$307M in Australia and NZ$155M in New Zealand
  • Industry Contracts – AU$934M in Australia and NZ$178M in New Zealand
  • Commercial Deals – 836 in Australia and 97 in New Zealand

SCOPR® is conducted every year by Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia (KCA) who engages gemaker to collect and analyse the data from Australian and New Zealand universities and research agencies.

In 2023, KCA entered into a strategic partnership with the Australian Government Department of Education with the aims of improving response rates for SCOPR® and achieving enhancements to survey questions. As part of this partnership, a joint workshop was held with organisations including AAMRI, NHMRC, ARC, Universities Australia and the Department of Industry, Science and Resources.

Participation in SCOPR® is voluntary, and the metrics are supplied on a self-reporting basis. In 2022, 64 Australian and New Zealand research organisations participated, an increase of 31% on last year’s participation.

“It is very pleasing to see the significant increase of participation of organisations for 2022” KCA Chair Quin Chang said, “This increase confirms the value of the survey both to individual organisations and to the wider community”.

SCOPR is overseen by a committee chaired by Mr John Grace AO, with support of expert professionals to conduct the survey. KCA’s role is to enable individual organisations assess their research performance while the aggregate commercialisation metrics emerging from the survey results help to highlight their economic contribution and inform policy development.


01/09/2022 – SCOPR™ 2021 Highlights Success of Research Commercialisation

In just 5 years publicly funded research organisations in Australia have achieved AU$1.2B in commercialisation deals with 260 new companies created in Australia and 47 new companies created in New Zealand.

Those numbers from KCA’s SCOPR™ 2021, the Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research from 49 participating universities and research institutes in Australia and New Zealand show success in the commercialisation of publicly funded research, achieving positive impact in society in a wide range of technologies from life sciences through to MedTech, IT and engineering solutions.

These results lay out in a clear, comprehensive, and unequivocal way how Australian and New Zealand research is succeeding on the world stage and how that translates to the universal language of dollars and cents.

“The path from idea to reality is full of unexpected obstacles and is often difficult to measure,” SCOPR™ Chair John Grace AO said. “This data is positive proof Australasian public research organisations are contributing significantly to the new industries of Australia and New Zealand and are producing products and services of international significance.”


09/09/2021 – Report released – 2020 Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research (SCOPR)

Commercialisation revenue has more than doubled over the past two years, as research powers Australia’s post-pandemic recovery.

Hundreds of start-ups and spin-outs contributed to the $242.3 million dollar return on investment in 2020 – up from $119m in 2018 – despite the challenges of COVID-19.

The Survey of Commercialisation on Outcomes from Public Research (SCOPR), conducted every year by Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia, collects data from Australian and New Zealand universities and research agencies.

“Despite the tough year, there was strong growth in commercial activity ranging from number of inventions to commercialisation income and new start-up companies,” Chair of SCOPR, John Grace AO, says.

The survey also found that The University of Auckland, CSIRO, Monash University, The University of Sydney, the ANU and UNSW are engaging the best with industry.


23/09/2020 – Report released – 2019 Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research (SCOPR)

KCA’s Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research (SCOPR), delivered by commercialisation company gemaker, showcases the vital work of Technology Transfer professionals who move research from the lab into everyday use.

SCOPR enables benchmarking of participating institutions’ research industry engagement and commercialisation results relative to the sector, to inform their policies and planning. For the wider community, it shows the real-world impact and dollar outcomes of public sector research.

SCOPR was overseen by a steering committee chaired by KCA board member Mr John Grace AO. 

34 Australian and 15 New Zealand research organisations responded to the survey.

“Research from universities is often early stage and needs a team of people to get from concept to product. The outstanding innovations in this report have the potential to improve and save lives, while boosting our economy by billions of dollars,” KCA Chair, Dr. Erin Rayment, says. “It’s time to start planning for a knowledge-led recovery. To do that, we need to increase our investment in research and development, and commercialisation activities.” 


15/06/2020 – Launch of the Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research (SCOPR).

Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia (KCA) – alongside the Go8, KiwiNet and AAMRI – is proud to announce the launch of the Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research (SCOPR).

Public sector research in Australia and New Zealand leads the world.  But how do we best demonstrate real-world impact?  SCOPR is a landmark survey of commercialisation outcomes from public research.

Australian and New Zealand universities, medical research institutes and other publicly funded research organisations will be invited to participate.

“The launch of SCOPR is an important initiative for KCA and aims to further demonstrate the value of technology transfer and commercialisation activities to our members, publicly funded research organisations and the wider community,” KCA Chair Dr Erin Rayment says.

Australia’s Chief Scientist Professor Alan Finkel AO agreed and said “Research managers, heads of institutes and government policy advisors need access to data that will help them optimise commercialisation and industry engagement from lab level to national level.  I am delighted that KCA and partners are taking on the task of surveying the commercialisation and industry engagement achievements of the public research sector, to gather the necessary data”.

SCOPR will enable benchmarking of participating institutions’ research industry engagement and commercialisation results relative to the sector, to inform their policies and planning. For the wider community, it will show the real-world impact and dollar outcomes of public sector research.

SCOPR is overseen by a steering committee chaired by KCA board member Mr John Grace AO.  The survey results will be published on 11 September 2020 via KCA’s website.

Commercialisation company gemaker has been engaged to facilitate the survey.