The Center for Technology Licensing at Cornell University (CTL) has historically benefited greatly from working with Cornell’s bright, passionate, and creative students whose many contributions have helped CTL translate Cornell’s innovations into products and services for the benefit of society. We are also proud to know those who have worked with us in the past have successfully leveraged their CTL experience into promising and successful careers in, among other areas, technology licensing, patent law, startups and business development.
To further enhance this mutually beneficial relationship, CTL is proud to introduce the CTL Practicum for Cornell graduate students.
The CTL Practicum is a paid program open to STEM and MBA graduate students (all campuses). We are seeking candidates who are available to work with us for at least 1 year, at a maximum of 10 hours per week. The practicants will be paid at an hourly rate.
The CTL Practicum includes:
- A formalized application, screening and selection process
- A robust training program about CTL and its scope of activities including evaluating innovations, assessing markets and potential licensees, creating effective marketing collateral, assessing patentability and patent landscapes, and learning about of the various types of contracts used by CTL to move innovations into the market place;
- A clearly defined role on the CTL team with deliverables and the opportunity to meaningfully contribute to the success of the center’s mission and goals. Successful practicants will have the opportunity to explore and build experience with key aspects of innovation assessment and commercialization strategy, patenting and licensing agreements consistent with their career exploration interests.
CTL’s goal for the Practicum is to challenge Cornell’s graduate students while gaining valuable experience to help broaden their career options and gaining satisfaction in knowing that their contributions meaningfully helped Cornell fulfill its mission to commercialize its innovations and grow industry alliances.
Eligibility to the program
- Open to Cornell STEM / MBA graduate students and postdoctoral researchers from Ithaca, Geneva, and Cornell Tech campuses.
- Currently enrolled at Cornell University.
For Weill Cornell students in NYC and Qatar, a new training program will be implemented. For more information, contact Jamie Brisbois, jamie.brisbois@cornell.edu.
Selection Criteria
- Demonstrated interest in technology transfer, innovation, entrepreneurship
- Commitment and availability up to 10 hours per week and ability to attend patent meetings and inventor meetings with Licensing Officers.
- Approval of the research advisor.
Application Process
- Complete the application form online.
- Attach a resume and a cover letter.
- Screened applicants will be invited for a virtual interview during the week of September 18, 2022.
- Selected applicants are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
- Read the materials provided before the training sessions in October.
- Mandatory participation to the training sessions
Apply for CTL Practicum
Applications open for the new cycle of the Practicum. Our new timeframe is mirroring the academic year to allow application from student in their final year of master.
Deadline: September 16 at 5 pm
Screened applicants will be invited for a virtual interview during the week of September 18, 2022.
Information Sessions
CTL Practicum information sessions for the new cohort were held on August 2022. Stay tuned for the 2023 cohort information sessions.
If you would like to learn more about for interns and Practicant experiences, you may view the recording of the panel titled “Innovation Beyond The Bench” held on August 11, 2021.
BioVenture eLab Practicum – subset of the CTL Practicum program
The BioVenture eLab offers training, educational resources, mentoring and expertise in various aspects of entrepreneurship. Primarily serving Weill Cornell Medicine faculty, researchers and students, the BioVenture eLab also conducts outreach to the larger Cornell community as well as Upper East Side and NYC life science ecosystems.
Current job opportunity: The Practicant will support a team of two full-time professionals in managing various programs and resources available to these communities. Download the complete job description here.
Practicum Contact Information
If you have any questions about the program or application process, please contact
Lynda Inseque
Senior Program Manager, Technology Initiatives & Outreach
lci2@cornell.edu
Eti Sinha, a Ph.D. student in the 
Andrew Murtha, a Ph.D. student under the mentorship of Professor Tobias Dörr (
Matthew Whitman is a Ph.D. student under the mentorship of Professor Claudia Fischbach-Teschl (
Sagar R. Shah is a Joint Postdoctoral Fellow in Professors John T. Lis and Haiyuan Yu labs (Molecular Biology Genetics / 
Yue Qu is a Postdoctoral Associate with Dr. Joeva Barrow (
James Ryan, Ph.D. candidate, Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences
Cybelle Tabilas, Ph.D. candidate, College of Veterinary Medicine
Martin Liu, Graduate Student, Food Science
Olga Lyudovyk, Graduate Student, Tri-I Computational Biology and Medicine
Shiang-Wan Chin, Ph.D. Student, Systems Engineering