Research Collaborations in an Academic Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: Insights from a Nigerian University

This study utilised a developed framework to identify the types of research collaborations within a university's entrepreneurial ecosystem and the perception of academics on intra- and inter-departmental collaborations. Using primary and secondary data from the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Nigeria, the secondary data included 151 published articles from the 3rd University of Benin Annual Research Conference, while the primary data consisted of responses from 90 randomly selected academics across 10 faculties. Among the 151 articles, 14 were authored individually, 77 by authors from the same department, 22 by authors from different departments within the same faculty, 7 by authors from different disciplines, 18 involved authors from different universities, 7 from university-industry collaborations, 4 from university-government collaborations, and 2 from international collaborations. The findings revealed a high level of intra- and inter-departmental collaborations but a low level of interdisciplinary and inter-institutional collaborations. Given the promising nature of the university’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, it is recommended that scholars at UNIBEN increase their engagement in interdisciplinary and cross-institutional research collaborations to enhance the university’s innovative capacity and its ranking in research and development. Keywords: Research collaborations, academic entrepreneurial ecosystems, innovation