Commercializing University Innovations: Alternative Approaches

For much of the past century, universities and university-based researchers have played a critical role in driving technological progress, from the fortification of milk with vitamin D in the 1920s to the creation of Google in the 1990s. In the process, universities have been a strong catalyst for US economic growth. But a perennial challenge related to university-driven innovation has been ensuring that university structures help—not hinder—innovation and the commercialization of innovations. Multiple pathways for university transfer exist and can be codified to provide broader access to innovation, allow a greater volume of deal flow, support standardization, and decrease the redundancy of innovation and the cycle time for commercialization. The proposed changes focus on creating incentives that will maximize social benefit from the existing investments being made in research and development (R&D) and commercialization on university campuses.