AUTM

What do taxpayers get back from their investment in research? New businesses. New jobs. Innovations that improve lives. Technology transfer helps make that return possible. But how do we measure it and tell the full story?

Join us Thursday, October 1, at noon ET for a global roundtable discussing the ROI for the Taxpayer.

Hear how leaders around the world are connecting research investments to real-world outcomes and making the case for continued investment in innovation.

Register now: https://autm.net/events/global-roundtable %20for%20the%20taxpayer

What does it take to bring an innovation to market when there’s no patent in sight?

For the University of Connecticut’s Feel Your Best Self, the answer involved educational psychology, puppetry, and a technology transfer team willing to see the potential in a different kind of invention.

On this episode of AUTM on the Air, Sandy Chafouleas, Emily Wicks, and Christopher Conners share how a classroom project became a licensed social innovation helping children navigate big feelings.

🎧 Listen now:
Apple: https://apple.co/3ebWO4n
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3C2dVO8

If you are interested in listening to the episode with captions, please consider using Live Caption from Google: https://bit.ly/3C9s4cu

A new plant variety and a valuable plant trait may call for different IP strategies. Knowing which protections apply can make a real difference when it’s time to license the technology.
On Tuesday, September 29, from noon–1 p.m. ET, Albert Y. Tsui of the Center for Technology Licensing at Cornell University (CTL) and Jessy McGowan of CSU Strata Technology Transfer will lead AUTM’s Traditional Plant Protections – Tips and Tricks webinar.

They’ll explain when to consider plant patents, Plant Variety Protection, utility patents, and international Plant Breeders’ Rights, and share lessons from licensing plant technologies.

Bring the questions you’re facing in your own portfolio and leave with practical ways to evaluate your next plant innovation. Free for AUTM members; $195 for non-members.

Register here: https://bit.ly/4hLUEGH

What’s the tech transfer challenge you wish you could put in a room full of people who get it?

Bring it to AUTM on the Road: Washington, D.C., on October 14. At Georgetown University Capitol Campus, you’ll join fellow tech transfer professionals for timely discussions, interactive roundtables, and the kind of conversations that can lead to your next solution or collaboration.

It’s one day to step away from your inbox and get ideas you can take back to work.

Save your seat: https://autm.net/events/autm-on-the-road

A signed license doesn’t guarantee every royalty owed reaches your institution. Underpayments can go unnoticed for years unless your team knows where to look.

Tomorrow, September 24, from noon–1 p.m. ET, Doug Aguilera and Claire T. Driscoll will show you how to catch reporting red flags, choose which licensees to review, and turn audit findings into stronger agreements and better payment practices. They’ll take you through the process from the first desk review to post-audit decisions.

If royalty reporting is part of your work, this is an hour worth putting on your calendar.

Save your spot: https://bit.ly/3THn8rY

What innovation from your institution deserves a bigger audience?

Submit it to AUTM’s Better World Project by September 30 for consideration for the 2027 Better World Project Award. Your story can help show policymakers and the public what happens when academic research, industry partners, and tech transfer teams work together.

We’re looking for licensed technologies with a product on the market or a prototype in active use, a successful academic–industry partnership, and a significant milestone since 2020. Tell us what changed for the people who use the innovation, and how your technology transfer office helped make it happen.

Already have a story in the collection? A new major milestone may make it eligible for reconsideration.

Share your story: https://bit.ly/4dVjGRl

What does nearly three decades of technology transfer look like?

A new report from The Bayh-Dole Coalition draws on AUTM Licensing Activity Survey data to measure the nationwide impact of university and nonprofit technology transfer from 1996-2025, including:

🔸 Up to $3.3 trillion in U.S. economic output
🔸 Up to $1.7 trillion contributed to U.S. GDP
🔸 Up to 7.6 million job-years supported
🔸 More than 19,000 startups launched since 2001
🔸 More than 17,000 new products introduced since 2001

The data highlights the scale of a technology transfer ecosystem that moves federally supported research beyond the lab and into startups, products, jobs, and real-world impact. For the first time, the report also provides state-by-state and regional insights into that impact across the country.

Explore the report: https://www.bayhdolecoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/The-Economic-Impact-of-the-Bayh-Dole-A…

Does university innovation face a shortage of capital, or does it need stronger evidence to unlock the investment already available?

In the latest episode of AUTM on the Air, AUTM CEO Steve Susalka and Knowledge Exchange UK CEO Stuart Wilkinson explore why global investors are increasingly looking to universities for new opportunities.

They discuss:
🔸 How early de-risking can help attract investment
🔸 Why different stages require different types of capital
🔸 How universities can build investor relationships beyond their regions
🔸 Why technology transfer is expanding beyond patents and licensing
🔸 What innovation ecosystems around the world can learn from one another

🎧 Listen now and learn how stronger relationships, shared expertise, and international collaboration can help more university research reach the market:
Apple: https://apple.co/3ebWO4n
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3C2dVO8

If you are interested in listening to the episode with captioning, please consider using Live Caption from Google: https://bit.ly/3C9s4cu

After a full day of talking agreements, compliance, operations, software, and startups, the AUTM University crowd traded course notes for conversation at last night’s reception! 🥂

See more highlights from last night’s reception and the rest of AUTM University: https://bit.ly/4rhZTB5