We have a track record to build upon from previous initiatives to link universities and researchers with factories, including the Scientific Research and Development Support Fund in Industry, which was merged with the Scientific Research and Innovation Support Fund. These experiences have proven that a meeting is possible, but a fleeting encounter does not create a partnership.
Hence, the Fund, under the umbrella of the Higher Council for Science and Technology, is moving towards a shift in methodology based on three principles. The first is that the research question must start from the factory, not the laboratory; accurately identifying the research needs of the industry is the starting point for any rational funding, as it directs limited resources to real problems. For this reason, industry has for the first time become a major independent focus in the Fund's programs. The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply and the Chambers of Industry are key partners; the Ministry is the owner of industrial policy, and the Chambers are closest to the pulse of the factories.
The second is that the partnership must be a true sharing of costs, risks, and intellectual property, through new foundations for industry-related projects evaluated based on their feasibility and applicability. An industry-related projects committee has been formed, the first in the Fund's history, and it has already received several projects currently under study. The third is that success should be measured by what reaches the production line: a better product, a more efficient and lower-cost process, or a new job, not just by the number of published papers.
The bridge between the researcher and the industrialist is not built by memoranda of understanding, but by accumulated trust and successful projects. Therefore, we invite industrialists to present their problems to the Fund, and we invite universities to count applied research and partnership with industry in promotion criteria. Then, the industrialist will see the university as their extended laboratory, the researcher will see the factory as their true field, and "Made in Jordan" will become a hallmark of knowledge before it is a hallmark of origin.
