The National Survey of Research Commercialisation (NSRC) is a national survey on the research engagement and commercialisation activities of publicly funded research organisations in Australia. It is the primary source of information on the publicly funded research sector’s efforts to collaborate with industry to transfer knowledge and commercialise research. It provides information that is used for policy, planning and benchmarking by research organisations, industry and government.

A review of the survey was undertaken over 2014-15 to ensure the data collection is relevant, aligns with current and emerging priorities for research commercialisation in Australia, is targeted to sector priorities and is comparable with international data sources. Consideration of new metrics was included in the scope of the review. The review report was released in May 2015.

The review findings resulted in a number of changes that were implemented in the 2014 survey including:

• significant reduction in number of questions
• new supplementary questions and optional case studies
• annual data collection cycle
• web-based instrument
• survey instructions.