Title: Formation of an entrepreneurial eco-system: the interaction of a research university and its city

Authors: Lita L. Nelsen

Addresses: Technology Licensing Office, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NE18-500, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Abstract: The Boston area is a hotbed of entrepreneurial companies spinning out of the region|s universities and research hospitals, with MIT playing a leading role in the development of these technology clusters. The Institute|s long history of interactions with industry and of professors founding companies has led to the development of a culture in which university researchers, industrial scientists and entrepreneurs, and venture investors interact on a continuing basis. This continuing interaction, coupled with state-of-the-art academic research, has led to an entrepreneurial ferment that has transformed the region|s industrial landscape.

Keywords: technology transfer; entrepreneurship; licensing; spin-outs; biotechnology clusters; entrepreneurial ecosystems; MIT; research universities; university-industry cooperation; industrial collaboration.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHTM.2010.036013

International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 2010 Vol.11 No.4, pp.296 - 303

Published online: 12 Oct 2010 *

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