NUtech Ventures professionals serve on the NCESR Progress Review Committee. As stated on their website, NUtech Ventures is the nonprofit technology commercialization affiliate of the University of Nebraska, serving the Lincoln and Kearney campuses. Their team evaluates, protects, markets and licenses the university’s intellectual property to promote economic development and improve quality of life. They also promote entrepreneurship through programming and sponsored events. NUtech Ventures was established to promote economic development and improve the quality of life for Nebraskans by helping move innovations from the lab to the marketplace.
The NCESR Progress Review Committee reviews progress reports and listens to presentations from Principal Investigators (PIs) about the status of their year-one NCESR-funded projects to determine eligibility for year-two funding.
To ensure that researchers (PIs and Co-PIs) on NCESR-funded projects connect with NUtech Ventures early in the research process, it was decided that NUtech Ventures would provide patent and intellectual property training within the first quarter of starting their NCESR-funded research projects. The training was held on February 20, 2026, and focused on patent and technology transfer policy, invention disclosures, intellectual property protection and licensing.
The session helped researchers better understand the steps necessary to protect their research discoveries and innovations. One key takeaway emphasized the importance of contacting NUtech Ventures before anyone on the research team — including PIs, Co-PIs, students, or other team members presents research findings, shares information with companies, or publishes research results.
Many participants indicated they were previously unaware of several aspects of intellectual property protection and expressed appreciation for the valuable knowledge shared by NUtech Ventures.
More details at: https://www.nutechventures.org/