Reimagining the STEM Doctorate: The Pathways to Entrepreneurship (PAtENT) program

By Praveen Ramaprabhu, PI

Emerging Areas of Research, Professional Development

“We have good record at UNC Charlotte of developing intellectual property. But in the past, we had no system for developing patent ideas as keystone achievements of doctoral research. Developing an idea for patenting meant a lot of additional work, so many students did not pursue that route.”

– Praveen Ramaprabhu

The program model, Pathways to Entrepreneurship (PAtENT), aims to bring greater alignment between doctoral degrees and the rapidly changing employment landscape. The project goals are to develop an alternative roadmap for STEM doctoral students that is scalable, and to investigate pedagogical implications of these innovations for doctoral education and for broadening participation of women, veteran students, and those traditionally underrepresented in STEM. This occurs through a pilot program in which Doctoral candidates in STEM fields satisfy Ph.D. requirements through the development of potentially patentable technology.

Learn more with Inside UNC Charlotte

Watch presentation at ASEE’s 2021 Annual Conference