AUTM is launching an exciting new initiative with a dual purpose, and we need your help to make it a success. We have spent a great deal of time speaking with industry to better understand what would attract them to the AUTM Annual Meeting. The predominant answer has been partnership development. This has therefore become a focal point for Annual Meeting program developers.
One particular initiative aimed at matching academic research capabilities with industry needs is our inaugural Industry/Academia Partnership Forum. At this forum, academic posters focusing on core competencies will be on display. We will have flat screen TVs broadcasting video of academic research capabilities and hot technologies. Industry attendees will participate in an “oral tweet,” whereby they cycle past a microphone and introduce themselves in a few sentences and mention how they are looking to partner with academia. We will have more than twice as many industry representatives at this next AUTM Annual Meeting than last year.
So how can you help? Please complete the attached questionnaire identifying your academic core research capabilities, as well as what makes your institution special. This short but important questionnaire will become the basis of a brand new searchable Web page that AUTM will provide as a service to its industry partners. To facilitate completion of the questionnaire, and to help with consistency of response, we have provided several examples of core capabilities at the bottom of the questionnaire to use as a guide.
In addition to facilitating partnership development at the Annual Meeting, this questionnaire will be updated once annually, and will serve as a one-of-a-kind resource for industry professionals looking to develop or enhance partnership with their academic brethren. No academic institution will want to be left out of the electronic manual of academic core competencies.
We sincerely hope you will take the time to complete this questionnaire, and will see the benefit that AUTM is developing for its membership with this initiative. The Web site and electronic searchable manual will launch in mid-January, and all questionnaires received on or before January 19 will be included in these materials. Please email completed questionnaires to Krista Baran at AUTM at the following address: kbaran@autm.net.
We look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas!