This year AUTM
and CORFO (Chile’s government agency that promotes economic growth) have
identified ways to cooperate under a formal MOU to help build Chile’s
technology transfer capacity that focused upon professional development.
The AUTM
Fellowship for Academic Partners (AFAP) program, developed by AUTM’s
Professional Development team, is the next step in this successful partnership.
Under the
AFAP program, AUTM is seeking U.S. university TTOs who are interested in
hosting Fellows from Chile. These
candidates have been selected an approved by CORFO to travel to the United
States in late 2011 for one-month fellowships.
AUTM’s
Professional Development team is responsible for the matching process. We will attempt to place Fellows in Host
universities which have similar research strengths to their home institutions.
The university
Host designates a mentor for the Fellow to guide them through a pre-approved
program that includes structured training, on-going mentoring and performance
reviews. AUTM’s Professional Development
team will assist the Host in outlining this program.
Hosts provide
office space, computing and communications, and additional office support as
appropriate. Each Host will receive a
small fee to offset these costs. All
travel-related expenses, lodging and related costs for Fellows will be provided
by CORFO.
I
have personally found it rewarding to serve as a mentor, as have many of you,
for such fellowships and internships. I
hope you consider being a Host for an AFAP Fellow.
For
detailed program information click here. To request more information or
indicate your willingness to host a Fellow at your university, contact AUTM no
later than Wednesday,
September 14.