A major focus of SynBERC is technology transfer, which is achieved through the Center’s Industry Affiliates Program, which will help guide SynBERC’s research and accelerate the commercial use of SynBERC’s dynamic and exciting developments.

Opportunities for Industry
SynBERC welcomes members in the biotechnology, high-technology, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries, suppliers of genetic tools, custom DNA synthesis companies, and venture capital firms to join us to create new biological solutions. Affiliates can participate as Supporting, Sustaining, or Founding Members.

Member benefits include:

• Attending bi-annual retreats to learn about recent, not-yet-published research, and interact in-depth with SynBERC faculty, postdocs and students
• Jointly submitting proposals to federal programs, such as SBIR/STTR, that encourage university-corporate partnerships
• Access to SynBERC presentations and prepublications
• Opportunity to receive student interns

Sustaining and Founding Members enjoy these additional benefits:

• Early access to intellectual property developed by SynBERC
• On-campus access to team meetings of SynBERC research teams

Founding Members also receive:

• Membership on the SynBERC Industry Advisory Board or Venture Capital Advisory Board, which provides the opportunity to suggest research directions and initiatives
• Opportunity to participate in Visiting Industry Scientists Program for affiliate members to work in a SynBERC academic laboratory (bench fee may apply)

Sponsored Research
All members will have the opportunity to sponsor dedicated research projects with SynBERC faculty members with potential matching funds from the University of California.

Knowledge and technology transfer between SynBERC and its corporate partners
SynBERC encourages information transfer from SynBERC to industry through several activities:

• Semi-annual retreats of the industrial affiliates and SynBERC scientists
• Annual meetings of the Industrial Advisory Board
• One-week summer courses for industry scientists organized by SynBERC investigators
• A quarterly newsletter highlighting SynBERC events and research progress

For more information:
Leonard Katz, PhD
Research Director
510-486-5075
katzl (at) berkeley.edu