Abstract:
While the focus of universities in Sri Lanka is to produce employable quality graduates, the prevailing
attitude amongst decision makers seems to be that it is good to have research in universities but not
essential. In addition, a number of issues seem to impede both research in universities and their
commercialization. There is hardly any dedicated funding for research in universities. Also, there is a
misconception that output from university research can and should be commercialized. In reality, the
objective of university research is to find something new that is publishable and may be to obtain a
patent and never the commercializing of the research. To prepare a research project for
commercialization as a bankable proposition, the process requires at the very least, a proof of
concept, prototype and a business plan from the idea that was successful at the laboratory. This
paper identifies and discusses possible interventions by the government and the universities on the
short term and the long term and suggests the way forward for universities in Sri Lanka based on the
experience of the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
