Need Tech Transfer Interns Next Summer? Now Is the Time to Get Started

Laura A. Schoppe

Last spring Fuentek released a paper about best practices about setting up effective internship programs for technology transfer offices (TTOs), particularly at universities.

As I noted in my blog post about internship programs, a key recommendation is: Start early.

It’s too early to think about that, you say? Well, let’s back it out:

• You want your interns to start in mid- to late-May, at the beginning of their summer break.
• That means the interns need to be trained in early May.
• That means you need to select the interns and design the training program by late April.
• That means candidate interviews need to happen throughout April.
• That means the call for applicants needs to go out in early March, if not sooner as you may be competing with other summer internship programs.
  

And if you are establishing an internship program for the first time—having recognized the value that interns can provide to technology commercialization and licensing efforts—you need time to determine the structure of the internship program and perhaps secure management buy-in and possibly budgetary resources.

So, the time to start planning for next summer is now. Remember, you’re competing against lots of other organizations for your university’s top talent. If you want the best of the best, you need to be ahead of the pack.

Check out the paper for more details about developing an internship program for your university’s TTO.

Those of you who have internship programs, what was your experience setting up the program for the first time?

–By Laura A. Schoppe