Don't Mind Us, We're Just Here to Install the Cameras in Your Lab

According to this article from the New York Times, a handful of research universities are testing out a new business model -- having companies hand them buckets of cash in exchange for access to their scientists. "Stanford has paired with Exxon Mobil in a deal worth $100 million over 10 years. The University of California, Davis, is getting $25 million from Chevron. And Intel has opened collaborative laboratories with Berkeley, the University of Washington and Carnegie Mellon," the article says. Intel, for instance, says that "it benefits from having its own employees rub shoulders with professors, while gaining the chance to observe younger talent in PhD programs," according to the story.