Here are key takeaways from our AUTM 2022 session on incorporating innovation and entrepreneurship into university promotion and tenure decisions. It was great to have a room full of individuals engage in lively conversation about this important topic.

As we head into the new year, now is a good time to revisit and prioritize tech transfer best practices—that is, efficiently and effectively moving technologies out of university, government, and even corporate labs and into the marketplace. Today we’ve gathered together 10 of our key posts to give you easy access to these tech transfer best practices. Happy reading, and contact Fuentek to learn more about how we can help your technology transfer office (TTO) apply them.

Here are key takeaways from our webinar with Tech Transfer Central on incorporating innovation and entrepreneurship activities into promotion and tenure decisions. We highlight recent developments of the university coalition guiding this effort and outline key tips for individuals leading conversations on this subject on their campuses.

The notion of incorporating innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) into promotion and tenure (P&T) decisions is by no means new. But making the concept a reality has been a struggle for many universities. Now, a diverse coalition of universities will be gathering for a September 16-18, 2020 P&T summit, thanks to funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the leadership of Professor Rich Carter from Oregon State University.

In October I was honored to moderate a session at AUTM’s Eastern Region Meeting in Raleigh, NC, delving into the wide range of initiatives that universities are undertaking to consider tech transfer activities in tenure and promotion reviews. Our panelists support the inclusion of commercialization activities in faculty advancement decisions and offered specific examples from their own experience.

I had the pleasure to recently co-host an Innovation Roundtable on ‘Managing Corporate Innovation Across Sites’ with Wellspring Worldwide. Attended by a diverse cross-section of innovation leaders from industries including finance, high tech, and manufacturing, this interactive forum provided a unique opportunity to exchange best practices, ideas, and challenges in driving innovation.

As research universities are placing an increased emphasis on economic development, we agree that it’s entirely appropriate—even essential—that faculty advancement decisions include activities in tech transfer, innovation, and entrepreneurship, just as they include published research papers in these decisions. We are excited to delve into this topic at a session we’re moderating this fall at AUTM’s Eastern Region Meeting in Raleigh, NC.

Broader marketing efforts—those that demonstrate your tech transfer know-how—can elevate the profile of your technology transfer office (TTO). It can also cultivate productive relationships with your organization’s researchers, management, and potential partners/licensees. To help TTOs be successful with these efforts, this post shares the best practices that Fuentek has found to be effective time and again with our clients.

Summer is a great time of year to be in Minneapolis. (I used to row under that bridge!) And it’s particularly nice when I also get to participate in a session at the AUTM Central Region Meeting. The session—Ownership in the University Setting: Do You Own What You Think You Own?—will discuss the often complex intellectual property (IP) issues that occur in the university setting.

At a growing number of universities, technology transfer offices (TTOs) are being asked to educate students about protecting IP, evaluating a technology’s market potential, licensing, and so forth. Making classroom connections has several benefits for the TTO. Read about AUTM panelists’ efforts as well as university training offerings for current and future tech transfer professionals.