Whether you're searching for a full-time career or a student position to gain real-world experience, contact us to learn more about the exciting and rewarding world of technology commercialization.
TLA is the University of Arizona unit with the primary mission of ensuring greater cohesion among University researchers, the business community, and organizations supporting technology commercialization to significantly enhance the impact of UArizona research and creative endeavors. TLA represents a prioritization of the University's commitment to impact of research.
As a place to live and work, Tucson has been ranked in the top 20 among America’s Best Cities in the 2021 annual report by Resonance Consultancy, and was the first UNESCO City of Gastronomy designated in the U.S., joining the worldwide network of UNESCO Creative Cities.
Check out this video created by AUTM, highlighting technology transfer professionals – including TLA's Director of Licensing Rakhi Gibbons – and how their journey led them to careers bridging academic research, innovation and the marketplace.
We have the positions below open at this time. For all current Arizona job postings, visit the University of Arizona talent site.
For all UArizona student positions, search the Handshake site.
The Market Research Student Analyst will assist the Market Research Manager in developing commercialization assessment reports of various technologies disclosed to the Tech Launch Arizona office. Technologies cover a range of domains and cluster around the six major Intellectual Property (IP) generating colleges of the University: Optical Sciences; Agriculture and Life Sciences; Engineering; Medicine; Eller IT/Informatics; and Science. The emphasis of the position will be to support early-stage assessments of the IP’s commercialization potential. Through a detailed assessment of key factors, the market research analyst will help deliver a high-level overview of the commercial potential of the intellectual property.
Position Duties
- Conduct patent and literature search of specific subject matter, in the areas of life sciences, physical sciences, optics, and engineering
- Gain a basic understanding of the IP’s functionality, capabilities, competitive landscape, and potential applications
- Research, recognize and report common trends and themes in domain-specific research
- Concisely summarize and report findings
- Write non-confidential summaries for technologies in a timely manner
- Write commercialization assessment reports in a timely manner
Minimum Requirements
- Must be a US Citizen or Permanent Resident
- Upper-level undergraduate or graduate student NOT on a Research/Teaching Assistantship contract
- Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with multiple projects
- Ability to take initiative and be a self-starter
- Ability to independently manage, track, and execute several tasks and projects simultaneously
- Ability to execute work with thoroughness and attention to detail
- Ability to work collaboratively within a team environment
- Proficient with Microsoft Office applications
- Ability to commit to working 10 hours per week during the academic semester or 20 hours per week during summer
- Science background and/or working towards a science or technology degree
Preferred Requirements
- Successful work experience in a technical or market research capacity (Applicable educational experience can be applied)
- Previous work experience in life sciences, physical sciences, optics, and engineering or any relevant science
- Lab experience in a research setting
- Ability to work over summer months
- Ability to make a year-long commitment
- Excellent writing skills
- Eligible graduate students in life sciences, physical sciences, optics, and engineering
- Eligible business, MBA, or Law students with a background in life sciences, physical sciences, optics, and engineering
- Having a keen interest in technology commercialization, intellectual property, and the vision of moving innovations from labs to marketplace
For information about applying for this opportunity, check out Handshake, #5181481. If you have questions, contact Anne Gardner, annes@tla.arizona.edu.
The primary role of market research (MR) is to work with TLA team members to define, articulate, develop, and respond to various market research needs of early-stage technologies, making market strategy recommendations based on conclusions of research and understanding of the commercialization environment. The MR Student Associate is responsible for reviewing Commercialization Assessment Reports (CAR) prepared by the MR Student Analysts to ensure the report meets TLA standards for completeness and presentation as described in the CAR template. These assessments should align with the technology as described in the invention disclosure. This includes reviewing and editing content and references as well as standard copy-editing tasks such as spelling and grammar.
The technologies cover a range of domains and cluster around the six major Intellectual Property (IP) generating colleges of the University: Optical Sciences; College of Agriculture and Life Science. ALS; Engineering; Health Sciences; Eller IT/Informatics; and Science.
Position Duties
- Review and edit Commercialization Assessment Report drafts in a timely manner.
- Provide comments and feedback to Market Research Student Analysts based on review
- Provide additional content to the draft as needed
- Keep the Market Research Manager updated on work-flow and completion of the Commercialization Assessment Reports
Minimum Requirements
- Must be a US Citizen or Permanent Resident
- Graduate Student with a background in Life Science, Physical Science or Optics or other scientific/technical background
- Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with multiple projects
- Ability to take initiative and be a self-starter
- Ability to independently manage, track, and execute several tasks and projects simultaneously
- Ability to execute work with thoroughness and attention to detail
- Ability to work collaboratively within a team environment
- Proficient with Microsoft Office applications
- Ability to commit to working up to 6 hours per week during the academic semester; up to 12 hours per week during summer
Preferred Requirements
- Successful work experience in a technical or market research capacity (Applicable educational experience can be applied)
For information about applying for this opportunity, check out Handshake, #4577842. If you have questions, contact Anne Gardner, annes@tla.arizona.edu.
The Tech Launch Arizona Venture Development team facilitates the creation of new ventures founded on UArizona inventions. The Student Entrepreneurial Fellow Program allows graduate or PhD students, working on behalf of UArizona, to gain practical startup company and technology commercialization experience. This is an incredible opportunity to build a resume, gain knowledge of the entrepreneurial process, and work with a team of seasoned entrepreneurs and executives (TLA Mentors-in-Residence (MIR)) dedicated to launching successful startup companies.
As Entrepreneurial Fellows, students will assist in the assessment of early-stage technologies for commercial potential, discuss concepts that drive design thinking, apply customer discovery methods, develop business and financial models, engage in the daily operations of a startup, shadow the MIRs in mentoring activities, and serve as TLA ambassadors on campus and in the community to promote commercialization activities.
The Entrepreneurial Fellow will receive an hourly wage from Tech Launch Arizona and be considered for a $10,000 Graduate Tuition Scholarship from the UArizona Graduate College. More details are available on the Graduate College website: https://grad.arizona.edu/funding/opportunities/tech-launch-az-student-entrepreneurial-fellow.
Opportunities Available
TLA is seeking to fill four (4) Entrepreneurial Fellow positions. Students have the opportunity to focus on a portfolio of industry-specific startups, like life science, software or physical sciences, or to focus on a particular functional area like finance or marketing.
Duties & Responsibilities
Students are asked to commit 10 hours per week. Their responsibilities will include:
- Attend startup meetings and help with follow-up actions
- Conduct industry research that may span multiple projects in the portfolio
- Work with MIRs to develop startup materials; this may include developing the value proposition, financial model, business model, executive summary, pitch deck, company descriptors, or other materials as determined by the team
- Attend workshops and training sessions with startups as schedule permits
- Attend campus and community events with TLA where appropriate and as schedule permits
- Attend regular meetings with the Venture Development team to discuss ongoing projects
Requirements
- Must be a graduate student or PhD student (students in a GA or faculty ancillary position may not qualify depending on FTE commitments)
- Must be a US Citizen or Permanent Resident
- Ability to commit to working 10 hours per week
- Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written
- Ability and willingness to contribute ideas and thoughts to the Venture Development team
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with multiple projects
- Ability to take initiative and be a self-starter
- Ability to independently manage several tasks and projects simultaneously
- Ability to execute work with thoroughness and attention to detail
- Ability to work collaboratively within a team environment
- Proficient with Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, PowerPoint, and Word
For information about applying for this opportunity, check out Handshake, #4331164. If you have questions, contact Elena Fielder at elenaf@tla.arizona.edu.