On Tuesday, September 17, 2019, the Office of the Vice Provost for Research celebrated its new offices at 3600 Civic Center Blvd. by opening its doors to the Penn community and partners. The first annual Navigating Commercialization @ Penn Open House was a huge success, with 110 attendees from all Penn schools and major partners.
The Open House started with a networking, food, and drinks. At 3:00pm, Provost Wendell Pritchett and Vice Provost for Research Dawn Bonnell spoke to the crowd about the work of the OVPR team and how they help Penn with funding, research compliance, commercialization and training.
After the welcome presentation, OVPR opened up the office for guests to explore. There were six stations to visit:
- Licencing
- IP
- Startup Formation
- Corporate Partnerships
- Programs & Resources
- Tech Tools
At each station, OVPR staff talked to guests, provided resources, and one-on-one guidance.
For those new to the Commercialization process, OVPR hosted five 12 minute lightning talks on common topics, including IP 101, questions founders should ask, and sponsored research agreements.
We had a blast hosting the event, and hope you’ll come out when we do this again next year!
