Everyone knows the saying "it's not what you know, it's who you know." As scientists, we've spent a lot of time learning what we know, and we might prefer to think that the old adage works only in the business world and not in ours. After all, the sheer weight of our education, training, and accomplishments should be more than enough to land us the position of our choice, right? As noble as this ...
Editor's Note: This article initially appeared in the April 1998 issue of IP Magazine The U.S. patent system derives from the Constitution's stated principle of "promoting the useful arts and sciences." A patent allows an inventor to exclude others from making, using or selling the claimed invention for a limited period of time, now 20 years from the filing of the patent application. For the inve...
You've slaved away for years with single-minded dedication to your science, caring little for monetary reward. You've toiled and sacrificed for that day (surely soon) when you get that job as an assistant professor and finally start earning the lofty sums someone with your training and talent deserves. You have friends in other fields, surely not nearly as smart and hardworking as you, who get bo...
BACK TO THE FEATURE INDEX The free and open sharing of scientific information, data, and materials is a fundamental ideal underlying the social structure of science. The importance of data sharing is clearly illustrated by the inscription on the statue of Albert Einstein in front of the National Academy of Sciences: "The right to search for truth implies also a duty: one must not conceal any part...
The MRC is the primary U.K. government agency for the support of biomedical research. Its annual budget (~£320 million) supports research in its own laboratories and in universities, with approximately equal spending in each mode. The Technology Transfer Group in the MRC Head Office is directly responsible for the management of exploitation of results from the council's laboratories and works in ...
