We are proudly building impactful partnerships. If you’re a researcher—whether from the United States or beyond—or represent a college or university, we hope you’ll join us on our mission.
By engaging with Innovare Advancement Center, industrial organizations and higher-educational institutions are able to bring researchers and visiting faculty here to accelerate their talents and pursue research opportunities in our core research areas.
K-12 / STEM
If you represent a K-12 institution, or an impactful community organization, we hope you’ll connect with us to light the way for students to enjoy a lifetime of success.
To do so, Innovare Advancement Center offers immersive, year-round virtual and in-person science, technology, engineering, and mathematics -based opportunities for young students. We are thrilled to connect with schools and community organizations because we must inspire the next-generation of research leaders so everyone can thrive.
Partnerships with the Air Force Research Laboratory
Innovare facilitates a variety of avenues for partnership engagement with the Air Force Research Laboratory. These include Cooperative Research and Development Agreements, Information Transfer Agreements, Material Transfer Agreements, Educational Partnership Agreements, Patent License Agreements, and Commercial Test Agreements.
A Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA)
A CRADA is a key mechanism for removing barriers to collaboration, obtaining long-term value, and promoting high returns on R&D investments. This type of agreement is proven to have tremendous mutually beneficial potential for leveraging resources to further necessary research. Itis one of the most common types of agreements used by the Information Directorate. CRADAs foster collaborative relationships with industry,academia, local and state governments, and with other federal agencies to advance technology research goals and benefits, that in turn create faster,better, and cheaper innovation. A CRADA is NOT a procurement contract or grant. It allows for more flexibility in being able to choose the partners we want to work with and to achieve the technology goals of mutual interest. CRADAs allow us to take into consideration the needs of private industry as well as to encourage small business participation.
An Information Transfer Agreement (ITA)
An ITA allows information to be transferred between defense and nondefense persons or entities and has the same legal standing as a CRADA.
A Material Transfer Agreement (MTA)
A MTA allows materials, including physical substances,products or test data, to be transferred between government and non-government entities, and has the same legal standing as a CRADA.
An Education Partnership Agreement (EPA)
An EPA is a formal agreement between a defense laboratory and an educational institution for the purpose of encouraging and enhancing study in scientific disciplines, business, law, and technology transfer at all levels of education. We enter into EPAs recognizing the importance of the research and development activities of educational institutions to the economic well-being of the nation as well as the importance of AFRL to the business, industrial, and educational institutions in the US.
A Patent License Agreement (PLA)
A PLA grants a licensee exclusive rights to manufacture, sell, and use a government-patented invention, subjected to certain terms. It will also define the amount of royalties the licensee owes the licensor. A PLA can offer three types of licenses: non-exclusive, field exclusive and global exclusive. A non-exclusive license has no restrictions for sharing with other collaborators or partners. A field exclusive license allows the partner company to be the single purveyor of that invention in just one industrial space. A global exclusive license allows the partner company to be the only company that can make, use, sell or import the invention. PLAs allowthe partner company to utilize research that has already been patented and apply it towards their current developments while paying negotiated royalties to the inventors of those patents.
A Commercial Test Agreement (CTA)
A CTA allows commercial companies access to government facilities, materials, equipment, models, software, and so on for a prescribed fee. Results under a CTA are confidential and not disclosed to a third party without consent of the customer. CTAs are useful for outside industry because they are more cost effective without the need to put a large investment into equipment and land for example and the government can benefit from the collaboration on the research findings
Innovate | Integrate | Educate | Elevate with Innovare!
Fill out and submit the below form to inquire about partnerships, collaborations & joining the Innovare ecosystem!
To inquire about partnership opportunities, International Researchers, Members of Industry, Colleges & Universities, K-12 Institutions and Community Organizations, please fill out and submit the above form.