[PDADC-L] Advisory Committee on the Appointment of Assistant Vice-President, Innovations and Partnerships, Office of the Vice-President, Research,UofT

Memorandum
Dated: May 4, 2010
To: PDAD&C

Re: Advisory Committee on the Appointment of Assistant Vice-President, Innovations and Partnerships, Office of the Vice-President, Research, University of Toronto Terms of Reference

The search committee will be chaired by Professor Paul Young, Vice-President, Research. The work of the committee is expected to commence May 1, 2010, with the aim of having the position filled within six months.

Advisory Committee Membership

Cristina Amon, Dean, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering
Malcolm Campbell, Vice-Principal, Research, UTSC
Meric Gertler, Dean, Faculty of Arts and Science
Rafi Hofstein, President and CEO, MaRS Innovation
Ulli Krull, Vice-Principal, Research, UTM
Peter Lewis, Associate Vice-President, Research
Scott Mabury, Vice-Provost, Academic Operations
Tim McTiernan, Assistant Vice-President, Government, Institutional and Community Relations
Catherine Riggall, Vice-President, Business Affairs
Ted Sargent, Associate Chair, Research, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Arthur Slutsky, Vice-President, Research, St. Michael’s Hospital
Ilse Treurnicht, CEO, MaRS Discovery District
Catharine Whiteside, Dean, Faculty of Medicine
Paul Young, Vice-President, Research

Position Description and Opportunity
Assistant Vice-President, Innovations and Partnerships, reporting to the Vice-President,Research, University of Toronto:

The University of Toronto is seeking to attract an accomplished and highly motivated
individual, passionate about innovation and commercialization, to lead the Innovations and Partnerships Office (IPO) within the research portfolio of the University of Toronto. The successful candidate should have demonstrated leadership abilities yet understand the complexities and differences when integrating academic, business, industry and various levels of government into effective partnerships to enhance social innovation and the transfer of knowledge into exciting commercialization possibilities.

The IPO is located within the MaRS complex on College Street in close proximity to many technology offices of the major hospitals that are affiliated with the University of Toronto. MaRS Innovation, a Centre of Excellence for Commercialization of Research (CECR), also is located in the MaRS complex and is an important commercialization arm of the University of Toronto, the affiliated hospitals, and other academic and medical institutions. The Assistant Vice-President, Innovations and Partnerships, is one of three Assistant/Associate Vice-President positions reporting to the Vice-President, Research, University of Toronto. The two other major areas are Research Services, and Research Oversight and Compliance.

Key Qualities for the Position:

Leadership: Excellent communicator and speaker with strong leadership abilities; needs to be comfortable, credible and persuasive within academic, industrial, hospital or business environments.

Networking: Proven leader, facilitator and collaborator with broad experience dealing with academia, business/industry and various levels of government.

Partnerships: Ability to initiate, build and nurture research partnerships with industry and government that will strengthen and cultivate alliances in a wide range of environments, each of which are relevant to the objectives of Faculties within the University; develop the working understanding of policies that shape these relationships.

Motivation: Out-of-box thinker and skilled implementer; able to motivate and be inclusive.

Finance: Good financial background required; familiarity with the University of Toronto's AMS/FIS/RIS systems a definite asset to have or acquire, but, more importantly, familiarity with external financial markets and opportunities, company structures, etc.

Communications Technology: Good electronic communicator, fully conversant with e-mail, website marketing, Google and related industry tools; good understanding of databases and data retrieval.

Education: Undergraduate degree in science and/or engineering would be a definite asset but not essential; post-graduate degrees in engineering, science, medicine, law and/or business administration recommended.

Knowledge Base:
a. Funding Sources and Opportunities: Well informed on federal granting council structures, provincial and federal Centres of Excellence, and/or Networks of Excellence programs, and other potential sources of funding including international to facilitate partnerships and social innovation leading to sponsored research agreements; connected to Industry Canada and Ontario ministries (eg., MRI)
b. Business Environment and Knowledge Transfer: Understanding of the innovation process,
disclosures and intellectual property through various streams (i.e., licensing, patent protection, copyrighting, trademarks, spin-offs with royalties and equity holdings).
c. MaRS Environment: understanding of collaborations with MaRS Innovation, affiliated hospitals and others.
d. University Environment: Knowledge of the University Strategic Research Plan to anticipate emerging challenges with respect to new funding opportunities in support of University, Faculty and departmental directives.

Yours sincerely,
Professor R. Paul Young, Ph.D., FRSC
Vice-President, Research