But so long as power alone is on one side, and knowledge and understanding alone on the other, the learned will seldom make great objects their study, princes will still more rarely do great actions, and the peoples will continue to be, as they are, mean, corrupt and miserable.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau,”A discourse on the moral effects of the arts and sciences”

In times of economic uncertainty, both universities and private companies need to optimize the investments on their core assets. Specifically, while universities are lacking of the funds needed for adequately investing on the development of their core capabilities, private companies demanding for innovation are investing considerable amounts of money in internally conducted applied research projects that are hit by high failure rates.

We believe applied research to be a key issue for both industries and universities to identify mutually rewarding opportunities; by harnessing cutting-edge academic research to commercial opportunities, companies and universities can establish mutually beneficial synergies, employing innovation to identify new funding streams and thus to deliver ever more significant contributions to the common wealth, culture and the fabric of society.

ARcTIC aims to stimulate a change in working practices that will make applied research central to the way the world does business as well as capillary in the economic system as a whole.

ARcTIC has the task of demonstrating that industry and academia can cooperate fairly and profitably, whilst safeguarding the integrity of all parties.

Finally, ARcTIC seeks to promote the role of universities as true non-profit enterprises; as every non-profit shall do, they should enact business and market strategies in order to reinvest their earnings to maintain and develop their assets and core activities, such as basic and applied research.