Working with a university doesn't have to mean a multi-year research programme, a six-figure budget, or a legal team on standby. Some of the most successful business-university relationships start with something much smaller: a short, low-commitment pilot that answers one question: is this worth doing properly? If the idea of university collaboration has always sounded like a big step, here's how to shrink it down to something you can test in weeks, not years. What's stopping