The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago serves as the innovation hub for the University bridges the gap between knowledge and practice, idea and action, and research and impact through education, partnerships, and new venture creation. The Polsky Center works closely with faculty and affiliated researchers to help them transform their ideas and discoveries into products, services, and ventures. Throughout the translational process, the Polsky Center provides researchers with guidance and resources to support commercialization of their discoveries, expertise in market analysis, intellectual property portfolio management, technology transfers, license negotiation and partnership development. To date, the Polsky Center has formed over 650 licensing partnerships and launched more than 90 research-based startups. The Center features a 34,000 square foot coworking and incubation facility called the Polsky Exchange. The Polsky Exchange incubates 15-20 startups at a time and partners closely with the surrounding community.
A partnership between the Polsky Center, Booth School of Business, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Engineering was launched in 2014 to help foster a relationship that unites Chicago Booth students and entrepreneurship with top-tier engineering talent and encourages the development and retention of startups in Illinois, both in Chicago and Urbana-Champaign. The joint University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign/University of Chicago project will include about 280,000 square feet of office and laboratory space at the corner of 53rd Street and S. Lake Park Ave. in Hyde Park.