Contact

Hello, how can we help?

Please reach out to us using the form below, and we will get back to you in a jiff!

Contact

hello@nwuenterprises.co.za

Weekdays : 8am to 5pm

Building H3,

North West University

11 Hoffman Street, Potchefstroom, 2530

Frequently asked questions

What type of business will the company be in?

The company is a services business, it will provide the services necessary to grow the activities of commercial directed research and consulting projects and related activity. It will do this by implementing a platform business model as shown in the attached “business canvas”.

How will the company work with TTIS?

The TTIS is the “Office of Technology Transfer” as defined in the IPRFPFRD Act (“IPR Act”) for the University. The TTIS is responsible for receiving disclosures of potential innovations from researchers. Researchers have the duty to disclose in terms of the IPR Act. TTIS is then responsible to curate the activities from disclosure to licence or assignment of any IP to an external entity. The primary interface between the Platform and TTIS is the IP transaction between the University and a spinout company. In the movement up to spinning out a company the TTIS and the Platform will work in partnership with TTIS in the lead, the act of forming the spinout company will be the point where the Platform takes the lead and works in partnership with the TTIS thereafter, the spinout company becomes part of the Platform’s portfolio of such companies and the Platform curates and manages the portfolio in the direction of growth and dividends.

Another perspective is that the TTIS will ensure that the University receives a fair deal in the IP transaction while the Platform will ensure that the spinout obtains proper access to the IP needed for its commercial success.

In addition, the Platform’s business development and project management capabilities can be easily accessed by the TTIS as it seeks to develop research ideas into licensable IP which in many cases require one or more R&D projects as the state of development of an idea to meet academic peer reviewed publication requirements is very often not sufficient for moving that idea the next step towards innovation.

How will the company work with UCE?

UCE has the responsibility to execute all short learning programmes. The company will partner with UCE by using its Business Development capability to sell courses that UCE then run. The platform will enable this partnership with seamless handover of clients and visibility for the Business Development Manager that the promise sold has been delivered.

How will the company work with CRM (Corporate relations and marketing)?

The company is focused on commercially directed research and consulting ie projects where we are doing something to meet the customer needs. CRM may in many cases have relationships with the same customer but about bursaries or other donations.

As such the company and CRM will endeavour to share customer database information to maximise synergy and prevent “stepping on each other toes” in front of the client.

Do I have to run all commercial directed research and consulting projects through NWU Enterprises?

From the company’s perspective it would like to partner with you to make such activities more efficient, relieve you of some less creative components and enable you to grow that activity without constraining core academic activity. The vision for the company is to become excellent at facilitating such projects that it becomes the locus of such activity in NWU because of the benefits it brings - irrespective of whether the University makes policy decisions in this regard.

Will I be paid for working on a project run by the Company?

As an employee of the University the University policy regarding such payments will be followed.

Do I have to register on the Platform as a member?

You will be invited to register as a member on the Platform which essentially means sharing your areas of capability and interest. The membership list will be actively curated and managed. Registration is free and does not carry any obligations. Benefits of registration will evolve over time. Initially it will simply make it easy for your colleagues to find out about and contact you. You may receive invitations to join a project team. You may be contacted if an external company is looking for your expertise. You will receive invitations to events where people will talk about experiences and opportunities. In all the above you are free to decline the invitation.

Are there any constraints to me taking up lots of project work?

As an employee of the University the Company needs to obtain written approval from your line manager for your involvement which would include sight of the time required, payments to be made to you, expected surplus to be generated and the basis of distribution of the surplus. In the case of such work having negative impacts on the academic project you and your line manager should develop mitigating actions that may become part of the project budget and deliverables. If in some circumstances you are unable to secure the time to work on the project the Company will have to find someone else to do the work.

How does the company earn its keep?

The Company provides services typically directed towards a project. The project budget will include a fee that enables the company to recover its costs. In other cases, the Company may simply charge a fee for a service or earn commission on sales.

If the project is run by the Company as an agent of the University, then the Company does not get any share of surpluses generated. If the project is run as principal by the Company, then the surplus belongs to the Company or as it has otherwise agreed.

GET INVOLVED

We invite you to partner with us at NWU Enterprises, where we’re growing knowledge into ventures that make a difference. Together, we’ll continue to explore new possibilities, turning ideas into impactful actions.