BU Office of Technology Development

The Office of Technology Development (OTD) assists faculty, students and alumni with the translation of their ideas into useful products and services. Funding initiatives are provided by the Ignition Award and Launch Award. The Ignition Award was initiated by OTD to help bridge the gap between government-funded research in basic science and the product development work performed either by commercial or non-profit entities. The program is currently accepting proposals directed towards Healthcare, Communications, Clean Energy, and Social Entrepreneurship. The Launch Award is designed to help Boston University faculty members start new companies based on technologies that they invented at the University. Another initiative, the Centers for Therapeutic Innovation (CTI), is a newly created, entrepreneurial research unit at Pfizer. The center has established a collaboration with Boston University to translate novel biologic discoveries into testable clinical hypotheses leading to accelerated proof of mechanism in human subjects. Boston University faculty working on projects that may lead to new biologic therapies (i.e., proteins, antibodies, peptides, etc.) may apply for funding. In addition to funding, OTD provides several other services including Business Incubation, Patent Filing, Licensing, and Mentorship.