Market Need
Before you commit to a path, understand who your innovation is for and whether they genuinely need it. Customer discovery turns assumptions into evidence.
Translation
From Discovery to Deployment
Hero Subtext: Research translation is the journey from a promising finding to a real-world solution. The Auster Center helps Tufts researchers navigate every step—from validating that a market need exists, to understanding where your technology stands, to choosing and pursuing the right path forward.
The Translation Journey
Most university research has more potential than it ever reaches. Not because the science isn't strong—but because the path from lab to impact is long, non-linear, and full of questions that basic research training doesn't prepare you to answer.
Does anyone actually need this? How ready is it for the real world? Should it become a product, a license, a policy, a partnership? Who are the right partners and funders at this stage?
The Auster Center exists to help you answer those questions—and to walk the journey with you.
Technology Readiness
Know where your research stands on the journey from concept to deployment—and what it will take to advance it to the next stage.
Pathways
Choose the translation route that fits your technology, your goals, and your stage—licensing, partnership, startup, policy, or direct deployment.