AUTM

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has relaunched its SBIR/STTR programs with $250 million in funding to support startups and small businesses advancing deep technologies, including a new $40 million pilot focused on next-generation scientific instrumentation.

For many university and federal lab startups, programs like SBIR/STTR provide critical early-stage support that helps bridge the gap between research and commercialization.

Read more about the announcement and what it could mean for the innovation community:

NSF deploys $250 million to restart Small Business Innovation Research & Small Business Tech Transfer programs, including a new $40 million pilot emphasis on next-generation scientific instrumentation The U.S. National Science Foundation today relaunched its Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer programs with $250 million for the nation's startups and small...

Congratulations to Paige George on being named the new Executive Director of the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC)!

AUTM is proud to partner with the FLC in supporting innovation, commercialization, and technology transfer across the research ecosystem. We look forward to continuing our work together under Paige's leadership.

Join us in welcoming Paige to her new role!

FLC | Meet the FLC’s New Executive Director: Paige George Tech transfer is all about what’s new: New technologies, new partnerships, new products, new benefits for society, the economy and national security. FLC News stories provide snapshots of the federal innovations and collaborations that make headlines every day.

A new University of Utah spinout, Geothermal Strategy Partners (GSP), is helping accelerate the future of clean energy by providing independent technical services for next-generation geothermal projects. Built on decades of research and field experience from the Energy & Geoscience Institute, GSP will help developers reduce risk, improve decision-making, and advance enhanced geothermal systems from concept to deployment.

Technology Licensing Office at the University of Utah - U spinout launches to support next-generation geothermal development The Technology Licensing Office strives to be a leader in innovation management to create value for the University of Utah, its stakeholders and society.

🚨 Seats for AUTM on the Road Boston are filling fast, and we're nearing capacity.

Join us on June 16 at MassBioHub in Cambridge, MA, for a full day of networking, expert insights, and interactive discussions with fellow tech transfer professionals, innovators, and ecosystem partners.

AUTM on the Road brings the power of the AUTM community directly to your region, creating opportunities to connect, learn, and tackle timely challenges without the time and expense of long-distance travel.

If you've been considering attending, now is the time to secure your spot!

Register today and be part of the conversations shaping the future of innovation and technology transfer: https://bit.ly/411hXDp

Researchers at West Virginia University are advancing technologies to recover rare earth elements from acid mine drainage, helping transform legacy mining waste into materials essential for energy, manufacturing, and national security.

To expand this work, WVU has launched the WVU Rare Earth Elements Initiative and a for-profit startup, Mission Critical Materials. Together, they will advance research, scale commercialization efforts, and help strengthen domestic sources of critical minerals.

WVU Today | From wastes to resources: WVU expands rare earth research to help strengthen America’s domestic critical minerals supply Building on previous groundbreaking discoveries of rare earth elements in acid mine drainage from retired coal mines, West Virginia University is launching the WVU Rare Earth Elements Initiative, or WVU REE, uniting researchers who focus on rare earths and critical minerals as they explore and secur...

A new startup from Carnegie Mellon University is using artificial intelligence and advanced computational chemistry to accelerate cancer drug discovery, helping researchers identify promising therapies faster and more efficiently.

By focusing on radiopharmaceuticals, an emerging area of cancer treatment, the team is working to address a critical challenge in bringing new therapies to patients.

CMU Startup Accelerates Cancer Drug Discovery A Carnegie Mellon University startup is using advanced chemistry and artificial intelligence to help speed up the search for new cancer drugs. Pierogi Therapeutics’ AI accelerated computational models can virtually screen vast numbers of potential drug candidates before moving into costly and time...

What happens when promising science is too early for traditional investors but too advanced for grant funding?

On the latest episode of AUTM on the Air, Teri Willey, founding managing director of Pathway to Cures, explores how venture philanthropy is helping bridge one of innovation’s toughest challenges: the early-stage funding gap.

From understanding what makes a technology investable to the critical role patients play in shaping successful therapies, Teri shares insights from decades of experience across tech transfer, venture capital, and nonprofit innovation.

Tune in to learn:
🔸 Why therapies often stall between seed funding and Series A
🔸 How venture philanthropy differs from traditional investing
🔸 What investors look for when evaluating opportunities
🔸 How tech transfer offices can better align with early-stage funders
🔸 Why speed and clarity matter in licensing negotiations

Listen now:
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

The University of Houston is partnering with Plug and Play Tech Center, a global innovation platform and venture capital firm, to strengthen entrepreneurship, research commercialization, and startup growth at its Sugar Land campus.

By connecting students, faculty, startups, investors, and industry partners, this collaboration will create new opportunities for venture creation, mentorship, experiential learning, and technology commercialization.

UH Partners with Plug and Play to Advance Innovation at Sugar Land | University of Houston The University of Houston is strengthening Sugar Land’s innovation ecosystem through a strategic partnership with Plug and Play (PnP), a global venture capital firm and innovation platform. As part of the City of Sugar Land’s “Smart Cities” initiative, the collaboration will enhance entrepre...

Arizona's public universities are creating pathways for students to launch startups, access mentorship, secure funding, and bring new technologies to market. The recent Inferno Invitational Startup Cup showcased how entrepreneurship, innovation, and commercialization are helping the next generation of founders build companies that address challenges in healthcare, sustainability, cybersecurity, and beyond.

From the classroom to the marketplace: Arizona’s public universities fuel the next wave of startups | Arizona Board of Regents Inferno Invitational Startup Cup highlights the statewide pipeline of student-driven innovation.

Outbounding technology from a unique geographic ecosystem requires a specialized strategy.

In this episode of AUTM on the Air, we go inside the "engine room" of university innovation in South Africa with Ravini Moodley, Director of the Technology Transfer Office at Stellenbosch University’s Innovus.Instead of trying to out-compete massive, resource-heavy global ecosystems in every sector, Stellenbosch is intentionally doubling down on agricultural and sustainability technologies.

Ravini sits down with us to unpack the ground-level pipeline moving research from disclosure to a functional spin-out.

🎧 Listen here: https://bit.ly/3RHDOOP.