FROM all accounts, Research Days at the University of the West Indies (UWI) was, as usual, impressive.

It’s the kind of forum that the county needs more of in order to ensure that research and data are continuously utilised in the formulation of public policy.

We agree with Professor Michael Nobel, chairman of the Nobel Sustainability Trust Foundation who, in his keynote address at the opening of Research Days this week, pointed out that universities play a major role in a country’s development and have an absolutely paramount place in the global system. As such, he argued that universities should collaborate with leading industrial players to improve society’s development.

The importance of that cannot be overemphasised. That is why we are encouraged by UWI Principal Professor Archibald McDonald’s declaration that the university is committed to that philosophy.

“As a research community we believe that it is our inherent duty to produce work that will facilitate positive change for our community — work that is guided by a single mission of improving the development capabilities of our island so that we can become key players in the international system,” Professor McDonald said in his Research Days opening address.

We applaud the UWI for doing more than merely making that statement, as — for the first time in Research Days’ 16 years — the administrators set up what they called an opportunity lounge, where researchers had the chance to engage potential funding partners in face-to-face meetings.

It is, obviously, too early to determine what will result from those talks. However, that kind of dialogue is always crucial in moving research forward.

It will also help in complementing the mandate of the National Commission on Science and Technology to drive national, social, and economic development through the use of science and technology.

The gains already made by the likes of Dr Henry Lowe should be enough to convince those who still harbour doubts about the benefits of scientific research and development.

Indeed, just last month Professor Lowe’s Bio-Tech Research and Development Institute formalised a collaboration with American bio-tech firm TruBios Communications for research and development of biomedicinal products for lifestyle diseases.

Professor Lowe has told us that his firm, after a mere four years in operation, already has two patents granted in the United States, and five others at various stages of completion.

One of those patents, he said, has so far been valued at US$14 million. That, Dr Lowe shared, is now part of his company’s asset base.

Dr Lowe and other local scientists are engaged in other research projects, including medicinal marijuana, that can earn Jamaica millions in foreign exchange.

What is needed, therefore, is a co-ordinated effort to convert these research projects into economic gains for the country.

But just as important is the fact that human existence has been enhanced by the work of scientists. We therefore should do all we can to ensure that quality research gets funding.