About Vice-Principal ResearchThe goal of the Foundry Program is to connect students who have entrepreneurial drive with research-based intellectual property with commercial potential through a licensing framework.
The Foundry Program is a joint initiative developed by Queen’s Partnerships and Innovation (QPI) and the Dunin-Deshpande Queen's Innovation Centre (DDQIC).
How does the Foundry Program work?
- Queen's Partnerships and Innovation (QPI) pitches projects to groups of interested students in the Foundry Program.
- The student groups express their interest in specific projects and begin interacting with the researchers, under the protection of a non-disclosure agreement if appropriate, to learn about the idea or invention in more detail.
- Interested students teams present proposals to commercially develop a specific invention or idea to QPI and to the researcher(s) who submitted the specific idea or invention under consideration.
- If any specific proposal is approved by QPI and the research team, an option agreement will be put in place that grants the student startup team a short-term limited license to develop the technology and includes milestone targets. During this stage, the students form a new company to start the commercial development process as an incorporated venture.
- If all goes well during the option period and the venture reaches all of its milestones, QPI, the researchers, and the company can enter into a longer-term license agreement.