Had the university not been funded, the PhD student and the team who came up with the idea may not have attended said university and the discovery would not have been made yet.

In addition, universities often return back much more than they are given in funding, for example, universities in the ' League of European Research Universities' such as the University of Copenhagen return five fold the investment [1].

[1] https://about.ku.dk/facts-figures/value-for-society/

Where do you think said student has got training, advice, resources and collaborators from?

Student: literally part of the university.

A PhD student, working with other researchers on the cutting edge of their field.