Vice Provost for Research Dawn Bonnell announced a membership program in partnership with Penn’s Schools to make the Pennovation Center and its programming available to the broader Penn community.

The Pennovation Center’s mission is to support innovators as they translate their discoveries into new solutions and to help them more easily bring their work to the market and to people who need it. This work needs facilities and programming in an atmosphere conducive to innovation. Pennovation Center is about building relationships and creating an atmosphere for exchanging ideas.

A $50,000 fund was created to support 50% of School purchased memberships for faculty members, post-doctoral associates, graduate and undergraduate students, and/or recent alumni. 

A number of membership options offer flexible access to the Pennovation Center with substantive benefit in supporting commercialization of Penn ideas through programming and incubation services.

“Pennovation Center is a collaborative space that allows innovators to encourage one and other, share best practices, and build and deepen their networks during and after their time in the incubator,” said Dr. Bonnell. “This community of peers is highly beneficial to new venture success.”  

Examples of those who may benefit from this program:
•    Faculty and graduate students with new discoveries that could lead to products
•    Junior or senior design projects focused on market-driven applications
•    Project based teams within technology or business courses
•    Winners and runners up in business plan or technology competitions
•    Post docs or research associates wanting to spin out a company
•    Recent graduates continuing projects started at Penn

Schools can participate in the program via a short application requesting the number of memberships, describing the proposed activities, and suggesting the benefit from the Pennovation community. Interested individuals should contact their department or school representatives to get more information about this program. 

About the Office of the Vice Provost for Research: The Vice Provost for Research is an advisor to the Provost and has oversight of the University's vast research enterprise, encompassing a broad spectrum of research support services, regulatory bodies, multi-disciplinary campus-wide Centers and Institutes, and partnerships to develop inventions. The Office of the Vice Provost for Research collaborates with Penn constituents and external partners to promote meaningful scholarship, uphold research integrity, and foster new discoveries, thereby helping to fulfill the University’s education and research mission as embodied by the Penn Compact.
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About the Pennovation Center:
The Pennovation Center is a 58,000 square-foot three story facility designed for startup companies, entrepreneurs, and inventors looking to be part of a unique community of innovators and includes a full service technology incubator, basic wet and dry laboratories, private offices, inventor garages, and a co-working space for up to 200 members operated by Benjamin’s Desk. It officially opened in October 2016 as the centerpiece of the University of Pennsylvania’s Pennovation Works, a 23-acre development adjacent to the University campus on the southern bank of the Schuylkill River providing facilities and amenities to bridge intellectual and entrepreneurial initiatives among university researchers, private sector innovators, and startups. Visit pennovation.upenn.edu and follow Pennovation Works on Facebook, @Pennovation on Twitter, and @pennovationctr on Instagram.