2. More incubation out of academia
Early financing through academic research grants is also becoming increasingly common, the DeviceTalks West panelists agreed. It comes with a hitch, too, because companies need ties to academia to gain access to the research grants.“The best research happens at the universities,” Yoon said. “Unfortunately, the development is a little behind, but some of the great ideas start there.”
Interestingly enough, Yoon has noticed that universities are increasingly evaluating tenure-seeking professors on how much technology they are getting licensed.
Such deals can prove lucrative for professors as well, according to Roman Fayerberg, a Greenberg Traurig patent attorney. “In a lot of these colleges, the agreements that they have at the technology transfer office, they get a certain royalty from licensing deals,” Fayerberg said.