Universities are still failing to support knowledge transfer despite three quarters of academics now engaging in it.
A study commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council for England examining the "evolution and infrastructure" of knowledge exchange in UK universities says there is wide disparity in the levels of engagement between disciplines.
Engineering is the most engaged, while academics in the languages are least likely to have reached out to business.
The research says that both formal and informal knowledge transfer is taking place, but scholars highlight "bureaucracy and inflexibility" and a "lack of capability" among staff and administrators as big constraints.