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Associated Press January 25, 2011
Gov. Martin O'Malley will call for more than $6 million to spin research conducted at university labs into new companies, aides said Tuesday.
The proposal seeks to address the gulf between the state's strong track record in attracting research dollars and relative lack of success in turning that funding into commercial ventures, an issue that commands the attention of academics and business leaders alike.
The new state allotment would be used to fund promising technologies and fund research of others.
“The gap we're trying to fill is getting that idea, that concept from research bench to venture capital stage,” said Patrick J. Hogan, associate vice chancellor for government relations at the University System of Maryland. “The idea is to throw 20 darts at the wall — 20 small darts — and hope you get four or five winners.”
A bill submitted by the governor on Monday, S.B. 239, seeks $250,000 each from five research universities to buy into the program every year.
Those schools are the Johns Hopkins University; Morgan State University; the University of Maryland, Baltimore; the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and the University of Maryland, College Park.
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