Changes

The University of Alabama at Birmingham offers an abundance of resources to facilitate entrepreneurship. Several of the assets available to university students to help start or grow an idea are the iLab (Innovation Lab), the Innovation Depot, and The Edge of Chaos. The iLab is an area located within the Innovation Depot, a start up incubator for the greater Birmingham area, where university students can grow ideas and collaborate with other young entrepreneurs. Lister Hill Library provides a creative space, The Edge of Chaos, for students and faculty to step beyond the core curriculum and explore topics that they may find interesting or essential in understanding topics necessary for academic growth.

Grant writing, legal, and venture assistance is well established in the university’s ecosystem. The Honors College’s Science and Technology Honors Program provides direct support to students and training in how to write grants while also connecting students with faculty that are trained in such activities. The Center for Clinical and Translational Science also provides resources for students looking for assistance in research related topics when dealing with publications and planning clinical trials. All in all, UAB provides an ample amount of resources to help and encourage students to move ideas and services along their path to completion.

eClub<br/>iLab<br/>Entrepreneurship Minor<br/>Business Research Certificate Program<br/>Wicked Problem Case Competition<br/>Graduate Certificate in Technology, Commercialization, & Entrepreneurship<br/>Alabama Launchpad<br/>eClub Innovation Competition<br/>REV Birmingham Pitch Competition<br/>Funding Emerging Art with Sustainable Tactics (FEAST) - public micro-granting supper<br/>The Education Scrimmage<br/>Innovation Week Birmingham

Coming in at #21 in total funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) among all universities, UAB has a substantial amount of resources (over $160 million in grants from the NIH alone) for faculty to pursue innovation in a research context. Faculty are encouraged to pursue ideas and are frequently recognized for their innovative work both on-campus, by campus-wide publications such as UAB Magazine and GreenMail, and off, by news features at the local, regional, and national levels.

But herein lies the metaphorical albatross around our neck—the intellectual property (IP) rights of students and faculty, not just at UAB but across the entire University of Alabama system, are non-existent. Quoted from the University of Alabama System’s Office of Technology Transfer (OTT), “When University support makes the research effort possible or when it provides support for the development of a patentable invention, it is reasonable for the University to participate in the fruits of such development, including reimbursement for its costs.” IP rights reform is needed to ensure that both our students and faculty are encouraged to innovate and disseminate their innovations into market at large.

[http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Rohit_Borah Rohit Borah]