Your Creativity, Research Importance, and Intellectual Property Rights In Graduate Student Research

We are all creative individuals, although creativity can be elusive, and particularly difficult to achieve in times when the pressures of life appear substantial. Graduate school would be defined by most to be pressure-filled at times, some might consider the entire experience this way, others only brief periods. Depending on your place in life, the degree you are seeking (MS or PhD), your advisor, and overall academic environment, your “creative place” may feel anything but that.  I believe we are all on a creative path and this path will lead us to exciting places in life, with the research path particularly intriguing. Simply put, discovery is a lot of fun! One of the challenges of graduate research is envisioning the difference one’s work can make. As I often tell students, it is really tricky to change the world with one MS or PhD program (no matter how excited you are coming in), but the value of your research to lead you to world-changing research opportunities is great. A life of discovery is a noble thing, and one’s graduate program is foundational to this. Tied to creativity is the concept of intellectual property rights. This rather vague-sounding term encompasses the protection and use of one’s creative ideas manifested in a useful invention of value to others. One of the fundamental inspirations of our land-grant institutions was (and is) to provide technology for our agricultural producers and users. Couched in this inspiration was often the idea that developed technology was to be “given away” with no restrictions such as patenting, licensing/contracts, or money involved with its acquisition. This philosophy has changed somewhat, as agricultural technology is now often controlled in some way prior to its distribution to users. In my presentation, I will expand on these and other thoughts that might be important, or at least entertaining, to consider in your graduate career.