Working with Penn State: Your Strategic Partner

Penn State has long ranked among the nation’s top universities in industry-sponsored research, and typically partners with more than 400 companies annually. In 2012, NSF ranked PSU materials research second in the country in the individual field of materials, and third overall in research expenditures.

We are an interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers leveraging state of the art instrumentation and expertise across campus to address challenges from the fundamental to the applied.

In recognition of the high value that industry places on intellectual property, we have recently modified the way that we work with industry; installing simpler and much more flexible procedures, making it possible for companies to retain ownership of the intellectual property that they sponsor.

Our four principles of industry engagement are:

1. Penn State will not seek to retain ownership of IP resulting from industry-sponsored research
2. A new Sponsored Research Agreement has been created that will significantly shorten negotiation times and lead to greater success in finalizing agreements.
3. Many research services for which Penn State is uniquely qualified to perform can be agreed to with a simple Research Services Agreement.
4. For research funded through federal dollars, Penn State will provide a fixed-cost licensing option at the time the agreement is executed. This is a completely new process that will give industry time to assess the commercial potential of the IP.

Penn State has created one of the most industry-friendly intellectual property (IP) policies in the country by removing as many impediments as possible to enable a free exchange of ideas. The University's rules of engagement for industry-sponsored research and projects provide our faculty and students the flexibility to work with industry sponsors in order to get the job done.

While IP ownership is not automatic, Penn State has set out to change its interaction with industry partners by:

• Removing IP as a hurdle in negotiating research agreements
• Reducing negotiation times
• Engaging and empowering researchers in the IP process

For details about Penn State's IP Policies, visit the website:

Office of Vice President for Research

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