Join Emory's Office of Technology Transfer
As an intern or student employee, you'll gain real-world experience in a career that bridges research and commercialization, resulting in solutions that can change lives.
Types of Internships
OTT’s Internship Programs (Patent or Licensing tracks) are unpaid volunteer positions focused on providing education and hands-on experience for graduate students and post-graduates. The Marketing track employs undergraduate students with writing and video experience as work-for-hire employees (paid or class credit) to assist our team with our marketing and communications program.
Patent Track
Patent interns and externs assist the Emory Patent Group in its ongoing intellectual property evaluation and patent process procedures. Projects include conducting patent research, assisting in the evaluation of university technologies for patentability, and helping prepare patent applications and prosecution. To qualify for this track, you must be pursuing or have received an advanced degree in law, science or engineering and have an interest in intellectual property as a career goal.
Licensing Track
Interns in this track assist the Licensing team in its technology evaluation and commercialization process. You'll work one-on-one with the Licensing and Marketing teams to prepare non-confidential summaries, conduct market research, and assess various technologies. The licensing track operates on an academic year cohort. To qualify for this track, you must be pursuing or have received an advanced degree in law, science or engineering and have an interest in intellectual property as a career goal.
Marketing Track
Marketing students assist the Marketing & Communications team in the promotion of individual technologies, products, the office, and technology transfer in general. Projects include interviewing and preparing written or video featured innovations, blog pieces, faculty interviews, and other duties as assigned. To qualify for this track, you must be an Emory undergraduate student, have completed some coursework in writing or video, and have an interest in writing or video as a future career goal.
Where Are They Now?:
Past interns and students share their experiences
I learned how to write about complicated, technical topics that I was originally unfamiliar with and to communicate these ideas in a clear and concise manner. Employers were also intrigued by my work at OTT, because few undergraduates have the opportunity to do interesting, meaningful work with such close exposure to the research pipeline.
I feel extremely lucky to find a career path outside academia but still close to science. What I liked most about the technology transfer [internship] and career is the timely access to new scientific discoveries and the dynamic job duties.
Without a doubt, I can credit my OTT internship as a reason for why I was able to receive several interviews and job offers. In addition to my STEM background, learning various aspects of the technology transfer process made me a competitive candidate.
As an intern, I have learned how to apply my scientific knowledge and my critical thinking skills as a scientist in the business field. The program also allowed me to foster new and old skills that would make me a much better candidate for an industry position in ways that I would have never been exposed to in the lab.
Without a doubt, the two most important things from the internship that helped me get a job were the skills I acquired and the network of people I built up.
The internship honed my ability to evaluate innovations for both their scientific merit and commercialization potential—a skill I would not have developed without this experience and one that will undoubtedly benefit my future career.
Learn more on the OTT blog
Dive into further details about what the day-to-day life of an OTT intern or student employee is like.
Be our next success
Many of our former interns and student employees have successfully transferred their OTT training to academic tech transfer offices, patent law firms, professional writing firms, and investment management careers.
Fun fact: Nearly 200 people have completed at least one internship track - and 17 have completed both the licensing and patent tracks! Will you be the next OTTer?
Ready to apply?
Licensing Track
We're actively recruiting for Licensing track interns for the 2024-25 academic year. Applications are due at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, July 19, 2024. Please follow the instructions below.
First, fill out the application form at the button below. Then, send your resume or CV, cover letter, and a writing sample to Catherine Murari-Kanti, PhD, at cmurari@emory.edu.
Patent Track
Applications for the Patent track are accepted on a rolling basis. To apply, please email Jim Mason at james.mason@emory.edu with your resume or CV and a cover letter expressing your interest in the program.
Marketing Track
Applications for student writers and videographers open each August before the school year starts. Please check back soon for updates. If you have questions, please email Asher Alt at asher.alt@emory.edu.
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