20 intellectual property rights. • Collaboration Agreement / Memorandum of Understanding (MoU): Formal agreements that outline the terms and scope of collaboration. These agreements can range from academic collaboration and research projects to student internships and exchange programs. • Industry-Funded Research: Companies provide funding for academic research projects that align with their strategic interests. This funding can support laboratories, scholarships, and specific research initiatives. • Real-Case Scenarios in Lectures: Integrating practical industry challenges into academic curricula. This practice helps students apply theoretical knowledge to real case problems and prepares them for industry demands. • Industry-Guided Thesis Work: Students undertake thesis projects under the guidance of industry experts, ensuring that their research has practical relevance and potential application in the industry. • Guest Lectures / Honorary Professors: Industry professionals are invited to give lectures or teach courses, providing students with insights into current industry practices and trends. Despite their benefits, contemporary collaboration practices face several challenges that impact their sustainability. Changes in company strategy, such as shifts in market focus, mergers, or leadership changes, can disrupt ongoing collaborations. High turnover in management positions within both industry and academia often leads to shifts in priorities and loss of continuity in collaborative efforts. Academic institutions may shift their research priorities based on funding availability, new faculty interests, or emerging scientific trends, which may not always align with industry needs. Differences in organizational cultures and objectives between academia and industry can lead to misalignment and conflicts. Personal changes, such as key personnel moving to different roles or organizations, cause a loss of knowledge and weaken the collaboration. Additionally, both sectors often face budget constraints and resource limitations, hindering the scope and progress of collaborative projects. Epiroc, a leading OEM in the mining industry, identified the need for a structured and sustainable collaboration model to maintain a competitive edge and drive innovation. The initiative aimed to integrate educational efforts with industrial needs, promoting a continuous exchange of knowledge and expertise since, despite the benefits, many contemporary collaboration practices face challenges that affect their sustainability over time. The initial collaboration model was functional and successful, run for seven years by the School of Mines and Energy at UPM, with a variety of activities and positive assessments of results. This model involved strategic partnerships, mine visits to associated operations, and real-case scenarios integrated into lectures, which significantly benefited both the academic institutions and the industry partners. The enhanced presence of academia representatives in the mining operations visited has led also to additional collaborations with other stakeholders of the mining ecosystem bridging the gap between academia and industry.
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