Drafting new technology summaries: Best practices and top tips for universities

Publishing a technology on IN-PART when you have pre-existing technology summaries couldn’t be easier; simply upload the prewritten one-pager or web link to the IN-PART dashboard and our team will do the rest for you. Writing the initial marketing summary, however, is a more involved process. But if the technology already has an invention disclosure, publications, patents or other work associated with it; knowing what information is relevant means you can lift the information you need and mould it into the summary, sometimes with only minor tweaks and adjustments. To help you translate those documents into a one-page promotional flyer, we’ve put together some steps to follow from start to finish: 

1. Gather the information

Firstly we recommend you familiarise yourself with the IN-PART technology submission template, which provides a blank summary with sections for all the information we recommend including. From there, you can gather all currently available non-confidential information relating to the technology. Such documents can range from technology disclosures, journal articles, patents, funding applications, academic posters and presentations, individual figures and images, news articles and press releases, or video demonstrations. When gathering this information, we recommend involving the PI to ensure that all the information and documents you currently have are up to date. Remember, all information included in your IN-PART technology summaries must be non-confidential.

2. Pick out the key points

Once you have all the information you can begin populating the submission template.

One of the key documents in this process is likely to be the invention disclosure form. An invention disclosure is generally fairly standardised in its content and format; however, it is unique to each university. Paul Field, Business Partnerships Manager at the University of Huddersfield explained that he tailored their invention disclosure to align with other organisations’ forms, such as IN-PART and funding bodies: 

“I made them to line up with the IN-PART summary document. It makes it a lot easier to reuse information. I’ve also tried to align them with the ICURe application, so one document can be shuffled into these two forms which helps a lot.”

A tailored invention disclosure ensures you have all the relevant information needed, but also allows you to save time by streamlining multiple steps in the workflow of getting a technology online.

After the technology disclosure, the next place to look is the abstracts of other documents. The nature of an abstract means that it summarises the key points of a research project, and if something is important enough to be included in the abstract, it is likely a key point that should be included somewhere in the technology summary.

3. Fill in the gaps and trim the excess

Of course, not all the information you need will be found in the abstracts, so now you have the basics, you will need to dive deeper. With a journal article about your invention, most of the information needed for the background can be lifted from various subheadings within an introduction, the technology overview can be populated from the conclusions and the benefits can be listed from the summary. The applications will most likely be predominantly drawn up from the existing knowledge and conversations previously had between the PI and TTO.

Some ‘gaps’ in the knowledge can be better explained by figures, videos, or research data, all of which can easily be hyperlinked in your IN-PART technology summary. Including these materials is a great way to provide extra information to industry members that want a deeper understanding before contacting you.

Remember, information like detailed experiment protocols is not likely to be relevant at this stage. On the IN-PART partnering platform, the industry audience wants to know what unmet needs the technology meets and the gap in the market that it fills. Readers want to know what the benefits of the technology are over pre-existing technologies and any additional applications that it may have. For a more detailed explanation of what makes a good technology summary, you can read the following IN-PART blog post: Communicating science to industry: How to write an effective technology disclosure.

4. Refine the language and consider the formatting

If you are taking key points and text directly from publications, the language is likely to be more technical than advised for an IN-PART summary; the readers in our network will have a scientific background but may not be specialists in your technology’s area. Therefore, all acronyms should be outlined, and scientific jargon should be explained or come with some context. Generally, it is OK for the tone of a technology summary to be less formal than a scientific paper, and definitely less formal than a patent publication. The language used should sell the technology, highlighting the positives of the technology to the sector and actively identifying areas and gaps in the market that it will fill or improve.

The Communicating science to industry: How to write an effective technology disclosure blog post linked above highlights the importance of making the benefits and applications sections of your summary succinct and easy to read. We recommend concise bullet-points in these sections if possible, making this key information easily digestible.

5. Add in the extra details

Finally, add in the details that are only relevant to the technology transfer sector, such as the technology readiness level (TRL), the opportunities that are available to potential collaborators/investors and any intellectual property information.

6. Save time by sharing the workload

We appreciate that small teams can struggle to find the time for drafting new summaries. Many TTOs on IN-PART use outside help from student interns interested in the tech transfer space, or mobilising engaged academics to draft their own technology summaries. University of Huddersfield is one such example, where Paul explains the benefits of working with the academics to draft the summary:

“The inventors do it all. It’s just me in my team, so it’s impossible to work it unless they contribute. And if they can’t contribute, they’re probably not that interested in commercialising anyway.”

Involving the PI in this way can also create advocates for commercialisation amongst your institute’s researchers, further fostering a technology transfer ecosystem within your university.
We hope these pointers have helped you draft your next technology summaries to add to IN-PART. If you are still struggling to get started, take a look at some of the summaries already on the website; a good place to start is our Top 10 Technologies blog posts which can be found here.

Written by Leah Daley. Edited by Daniel Judd.

Copyrights reserved unless otherwise agreed – IN-PART Publishing Ltd., 2023: ‘Drafting new technology summaries: Best practices and top tips for universities’

Who are IN-PART?

IN-PART develops digital solutions, curated by in-house STEM experts, that simplify the initial connection between decision-makers in academia and industry. Our goal is to help drive impact from research by matching innovation and expertise on a level playing field globally.

Connect, a digital partnering platform for university-industry collaboration.

An online matchmaking platform used by 250+ universities and research institutes to connect with industry teams in 6,000+ companies to commercialise academic innovations and expertise that are available and seeking collaboration. 

Join our network and create a free account.

In-line image source: Uriel SC, https://unsplash.com/photos/11KDtiUWRq4