Florida State University wants to get more student and faculty inventions out into the real world. The school is launching a new program to streamline that process and double the number of startups created each year.
Fast Start FSU cuts down on negotiating time by creating a standardized agreement between the university and the inventor.
“We’re really excited about what this is going to mean,” says Stacey Patterson, Vice President of Research at FSU. “This is the first of many programs that FSU intends to introduce to make the commercialization translational research process easier for faculty, staff, and students because we want the work that’s happening at here FSU to get to the marketplace where it can impact the world.”
The program also helps researchers apply for patents. As a bonus, the university hopes the new businesses will help to grow local jobs. Under the old process, “each license would require an individual negotiation tailored to that particular opportunity” says Patterson.
The new program, “simplifies the process and makes it so that there is one set of terms, and if those are acceptable to the company they can move that forward very quickly and spend more time getting that technology matured and out there than on negotiating and paperwork," she says.
The effort to turn faculty research and invention into investment comes as the university works to grow both its national profile and its reputation among its peer institutions. Research at the university level also plays a vital role in the university economy, as professors can be awarded millions of dollars in prestigious grants, and much of that research is commercialized, allowing the universities to reap the rewards.
As an example: the University of Florida has made more than $250 million from its trademark on the popular sports drink Gatorade, which was invented by a UF Professor more than 60 years ago. Florida State University received more than $351 million in royalties and was able to build a new chemistry school off its patent for a synthetic version of the life-saving breast cancer medication Taxol, which was invented by FSU Professor Robert Holton 25 years ago.