Irene Abrams, who has directed the Office of Technology Licensing since 2006, was appointed associate provost for innovation and began serving in that role Feb. 28, according to a Feb. 28 campuswide e-mail from Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Marty Krauss.According to Krauss' e-mail, Abrams "will be focused on expanding Brandeis' interactions with industry in the sciences by building relationships to attract sponsored research" in her new role. Krauss also wrote that Abrams will continue directing the Office of Technology Licensing and that part of her new role will include launching the Virtual Incubator. Krauss described this in her e-mail to the Brandeis community as "a program to help foster entrepreneurial students and faculty in the sciences by providing mentorship, education and small seed grants to help them move inventions from the lab to the marketplace."

Krauss wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that Abrams was appointed after Krauss consulted with the administration and senior science faculty. Abrams' position is the second associate provost position created this semester; Prof. Dan Perlman (BIOL) began serving as associate provost for the assessment of student learning March 1, according to a Feb. 8 Justice article.

Krauss noted that the creation of multiple associate provost positions is unusual, writing that while Perlman's position was created, in part, to encourage faculty to take on positions of administrative responsibility,"This type of position is also increasingly important as part of our on-going efforts to meet the standards of our regional accreditation commission."

"Ms. Abrams' position is due in part from the extensive review we have been conducting of our scientific infrastructure, and from advice received from the Brandeis University Science Advisory Council," added Krauss.

In an e-mail to the Justice, Abrams wrote, "My goal is to work closely with faculty on ways to approach industry in a more strategic manner. I hope to launch programs to bring industry folks to campus more often to interact with our faculty, and to also spend more time visiting companies and working to find the right matches between Brandeis' strengths and industry needs."

The Virtual Incubator program, Abrams wrote, "will [educate] students and faculty about entrepreneurship and increase the amount of technology moving from Brandeis labs into the market, for the public good."

It will do so, she wrote, by helping students and faculty connect with other people in industry as well as by providing grants that "help fund proof-of-concept studies that make university-stage technology more attractive to licensees and funders."

The first grants, small seed grants that Abrams referred to as "Sprout Grants," will be made available to "entrepreneurial students and faculty in the sciences who have an invention or a business idea they are interested in commercializing" this spring, according to Abrams. She also wrote that the Virtual Incubator program will be holding events this semester for interested students and faculty and will have a formal education component.

The benefits of encouraging innovation and entrepreneurialism among students and faculty have been recognized "from a number of corners at Brandeis," Abrams wrote. She added that, while programs like the Virtual Incubator have not been implemented at research institutions similar to Brandeis in size, they have been "very successful" at large research institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, San Diego.

Krauss wrote in an e-mail to the Justice, "We have long wanted to have deeper and more extensive relationships with industry and corporations who have interests in the kinds of science that we conduct at Brandeis. Many research active universities have specific programs to stimulate entrepreneurship, and Ms. Abrams has direct knowledge of such programs."

Abrams wrote, "What I hope to do in this role is to contribute to creating structures within Brandeis that will support our students and faculty in their interactions with industry for Brandeis' benefit.