Programs and Events 2011
Swedish and American Universities Share Thoughts on Turning Research into Reality
Public Affairs Counselor Chris Dunnett talking during a panel discussion at Stockholm's Royal Technical College.
On Friday, November 18 The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) hosted a panel discussion on commercializing university innovations. The session was organized under the auspices of the Swedish American Green Alliance (SAGA)
in a former nuclear reactor hall 22 meters (approximately 70 feet)
below ground. Swedish and American universities in the vanguard of
commercialization exchanged best practices but also discussed hurdles
and how to overcome these. The panel consisted of Dr. Eric Giertz and
Ms. Lisa Ericsson (KTH) and Dr. Charles Hofer (Kennesaw State
University) and Dr. Steven Nichols (University of Texas at Austin).
Sweden
and the United States are approaching the issue of commercialization
somewhat differently, particularly in regards to patent ownership. As a
result of national legislation, in Sweden, the researcher often owns her
or his patents (so-called “professor privilege”) while in the United
States the intellectual property rights are assigned not to the
scientist but to the university. Regardless of this fact the panelists
agreed that the common denominators outweigh the differences.
- I
am very pleased with the discussion and I was surprised how small the
difference is between Swedish and U.S. universities in the
commercialization of university technologies, says Professor Steven P.
Nichols of University of Texas at Austin (UT).
Swedish and
American universities also convened on Thursday, November 17 at the
Residence of the U.S. Embassy. The following universities participated
in the reception that was hosted by the US Chargé d’Affaires: Luleå University of Technology, Uppsala University, Chalmers University of Technology, the Royal Institute of Technology, Linköping University, Kennesaw State University, University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, University of Washington of St Louis and University of Texas in Austin.