Abstract Format and Requirements

Abstracts are submitted in pdf format during the web based meeting registration. The deadline for abstract submission is Friday, April 29, 2011. For consistency in the abstract book, follow the format described below and use the abstract template provided below.

Abstract Format:

• Use the supplied template below, double click in each location and enter your information
• Do not change the formatting on the template
• The submitted file must be in PDF format

Please do not include information in abstract text that is sensitive intellectual property or has direct implications for university patents. When in doubt, consult with your advisor on the content of your abstract prior to submission (read below for more information).

>> Click here for a Microsoft Word abstract template <<

As you prepare your abstracts and presentations for the graduate student research symposium, please consider if your research and specifically the results you will present is a new discovery or invention that may have commercial value.

Examples of new discoveries, inventions and intellectual property include:

• A new compound or material such as a polymer or drug
• Method of making a material
• A new device or instrument
• Software and algorithms

Indicators of potential commercial value include:

• A well-developed innovation
• A strong, defined market problem that is solved by the innovation
• A company has expressed interest in your research or licensing an innovation

If you believe you will be presenting or publishing on an innovation that may have commercial value, please contact Leza Besemann in the Office for Technology Commercialization (OTC) to discuss (besem007@umn.edu or 612-625-8615).

******************************************************

Why is Intellectual Property (IP) and Technology Commercialization important?

University developed Intellectual Property (IP) is becoming more important to both the University and industry. Commercializing University innovations:

• Rewards inventors for their innovation
• Provides the University and departments with additional research funding
• Benefits society by introducing new products and companies to improve quality of life, and to potentially create new jobs
• Provides job opportunities for students

IP protection is a key step in the commercialization process. In most situations, it is best to protect new an invention before it is made known to the public (those outside the University) through publication, posters, presentations or websites. If you will be presenting or publishing a paper on an innovation you believe may have commercial value, please contact OTC to discuss.