The article addresses the nature and implications of interactions between universities and industry. The idea that innovation does not necessarily spring from a process grounded in basic research has endowed this interaction with new conceptual possibilities. Dividing the 'understanding-use' space into quadrants, Stokes applies the term Pasteur's quadrant to the one displaying a high concern both with scientific understanding and with utility. The experience of German chemistry and US chemical engineering demonstrate how university professors have played a vital role in the development of chemical companies. The twentieth-century creation of corporate R&D centers, combined with the trend for reducing basic research in favor of applied research, does not invalidate these results.
university-industry relations; chemical industry; Pasteur's quadrant; mission-oriented research; innovation
