University City Science Center

The University City Science Center (UCSC) is the first and largest urban research park in the United States. Established in 1963 and headquartered in Philadelphia, it provides technology commercialization resources to entrepreneurs, including incubator space with fully-equipped laboratories and “plug ‘n play” offices, and path-breaking programs that demonstrate, nurture and sustain new technology businesses. Graduate organizations and current residents of the University City Science Center’s business incubators have created more than 15,000 jobs that remain in the Greater Philadelphia region today and contribute more than $9 billion to the regional economy annually. The Science Center boasts a forty-five percent success rate.

Location

Situated on 2 million square feet of real estate, the Science Center is located in Philadelphia’s University City District, which is also home to major universities and research institutions including The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Drexel University, the University of Pennsylvania, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and The Wistar Institute. Its location facilitates academic collaboration and fosters participation in the region’s largest community of researchers. The Science Center’s newest building is LEED certified at the silver level and features one of the largest green roofs in Philadelphia.

Programs

The Port

The Port business incubator offers more than 50,000 square feet of laboratory and office space with a plug ‘n play, state-of-the-art infrastructure, broadband connectivity and significant tax advantages. The Port flexibly accommodates the changing needs of emerging, fast-growth companies. Fully-equipped wet and dry laboratories, managed office space and office amenities, and an influential network offer a "big company" lifestyle to small companies.

Global Soft-Landing

The Global Soft-Landing Program fosters international business in the U.S. by helping global companies establish a foothold in local life sciences and information technology markets. Philadelphia offers a strategic location between, and within easy reach of, the nation's regulatory/legislative hub in Washington and its financial center in New York. Global Soft Landing provides international companies with fully-equipped laboratories, plug ‘n play offices and access to the Science Center’s full suite of business support programs.

QED Proof of Concept

The QED Proof of Concept Program is a funding and business development program for researchers at the Greater Philadelphia region’s academic institutions. QED supports proof-of-concept R&D in early-stage life science technologies with commercial potential. The QED Program integrates four elements that are critical to successfully and efficiently performing early-stage proof-of-concept technology assessments: Grant Funding, Business Advice, Market Drivers and Guidance to Exit.

Quorum

Quorum is a program that strengthens Greater Philadelphia’s culture of technology commercialization by creating a magnet for entrepreneurs and innovators throughout the region to convene, interact, network and exchange ideas. A modular, “greet, meet, and eat” space will facilitate their ability to build knowledge and explore opportunities. The Satellite Quorum offers Science Center-supported programming at diverse events across the region. The iQuorum integrates online networking tools.

Resident Companies

The 350+ companies that originated at the Science Center employ more than 15,000 people today. They include Centocor, Neose Technologies, SEI, Bentley Systems, 3-D Pharmaceuticals, BioRexis, Acuity, Morphotek, and many others. The work of the approximately 100 incubator and resident companies that currently call the Science Center home ranges from diagnostics, therapeutics, medical devices, healthcare systems, bioinformatics, and cognitive science to information technology infrastructure, interactive media, nano-scale imaging, novel materials and clean energy technology.

References

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