Learn Commercialization

Learn Commercialization | OU Research Innovation

Learn how OU researchers can translate discoveries into real-world impact through commercialization basics, IP awareness, and market validation.

Abstract illustration of research moving toward real-world applications

Turn Your Research Into Real-World Impact

Commercialization helps OU discoveries reach industry, healthcare, and communities. Learn how to move from an idea or prototype to products, services, or partnerships that create meaningful impact.

What Is Commercialization?

Commercialization is the process of moving research beyond academic publications and into the hands of users. It can involve licensing technology to an existing company, creating a startup, or partnering with organizations that can scale your solution. At OU, commercialization is about amplifying the impact of your work while respecting academic values, research integrity, and intellectual property rights.

Where Are You in Your Commercialization Journey?

Researchers connect with different OU resources depending on where they are in the process. Use these stages as a guide.

Figure 2: Three-step path showing image stage, prototype stage, and ready to scale.

Idea Stage

Early Insight or Concept: You have a promising method, dataset, device, or software tool and wonder if it could be useful beyond your lab.

Explore prior work and competing solutions.
Discuss potential IP with the Office of Technology Commercialization.
Attend introductory commercialization workshops.

Prototype Stage

Working Prototype or Initial Results: You have data, a prototype, or a pilot and want to know whether anyone would adopt or pay for it.

Conduct customer discovery and stakeholder interviews.
Engage with Startup OU and entrepreneurship mentors.
Identify technical and regulatory milestones.

Ready to Scale

Validated Solution & Clear Demand: You see interest from partners, users, or sponsors and are ready to plan for broader deployment.

Work with OTC on licensing or startup pathways.
Explore SBIR/STTR and other funding with OK Catalyst.
Develop a commercialization roadmap and team.

Core Skills for Research Commercialization

Successful commercialization blends technical excellence with a few key business and impact skills.

Intellectual Property (IP): Understand what is patentable, how public disclosures affect protection, and the role of OU in managing inventions, copyrights, and licenses.
Problem & Customer Discovery: Identify who experiences the problem, how they solve it today, and why your solution is better than existing approaches.
Value Proposition & Business Model: Define how your innovation creates value and how that value is captured, whether through licensing, products, services, or data.
Funding Pathways: Learn the difference between grants and investment, how SBIR/STTR fits into your plan, and when to consider investors or strategic partners.
Team & Partnerships: Build a team that combines technical expertise, domain insight, and entrepreneurial skills, and connect with mentors and collaborators.

Learning Opportunities at OU

Workshops & Short Courses

Intro to research commercialization
IP and technology transfer fundamentals
Customer discovery and market validation
Find all you need: ART ACADEMY SESSIONS

Mentoring & Office Hours

Meetings with commercialization advisors
Guidance on invention disclosures and licensing
Startup coaching and pitch feedback
Please reach out: otc@ou.edu

To find the right program for your stage, email otc@ou.edu

To learn about OU resources to help you with commercialization, please visit Commercialization OU Resources.

To learn about how to obtain investments while scaling, please visit: Scaling and Funding.