OVPR opened its doors to the Penn community

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.

PCI's Managing Director John Swartley (far right) with PCI staff
PCI’s Managing Director John Swartley (far right) with PCI staff

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.

Provost Pritchett
Provost Pritchett with John Swartley and Kathryn A. Donohue of PCI
Provost Pritchett
Provost Pritchett
Vice Provost for Research Dawn Bonnell
Vice Provost for Research Dawn Bonnell

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.

Jaime Sweet of PCI Ventures talking about the Pennovation Center
Pam Beatrice of PCI talking to guests.
Pam Beatrice of PCI talking to guests.
Networking session
Networking. More than 100 people attended the Open House.

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.

Christine Baxter
Christine Baxter, Esq. discussing SRAs
Carter Caldwell
R. Carter Caldwell gave the last presentation of the day. His lightning talk focused on the Penn Medicine Co-Investment Fund

We had a blast hosting the event, and hope you’ll come out when we do this again next year!

Guests of the OVPR event
OVPR Staff and the sign
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